Height Issue
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 530
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From: UK
To let him pass all of that and then turn him down on medical grounds is quite criminal in my opinion.
Joined: Jun 2004
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From: Up yer clunge .....
.... industrial injury ??
In a similar vein (cough cough ahem 
) due to another size issue. I keep bruising myself on the underside of the desks whenever a certain young lady enters the ops room in her short skirt and bends over the strip printer..... 
Should I get 'reduction' surgery before NATS cottons on that I might sue them for an industrial injury?
The other consideration is CRATCOH, because there's no way you can unplug and walk easily across the ops room with a huge boner !!
.... so you end up being plugged in (so to speak) for extra time.
Good luck Ben
) due to another size issue. I keep bruising myself on the underside of the desks whenever a certain young lady enters the ops room in her short skirt and bends over the strip printer..... Should I get 'reduction' surgery before NATS cottons on that I might sue them for an industrial injury?
The other consideration is CRATCOH, because there's no way you can unplug and walk easily across the ops room with a huge boner !!
.... so you end up being plugged in (so to speak) for extra time.
Good luck Ben
Joined: Jul 2003
Posts: 96
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From: UK
So if there had been another medical reason to fail should someone sue NATS then? After all it is their fault that this other medical problem was uncovered
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 530
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From: UK
Yeah fair enough but to sue NATS cause they didnt notice you were tall!
The newspaper reports (I do not believe they are 100% accurate) claim that ATC "was his dream job". He got one with eurocontrol in the end. Should that not be enough.
How about if I apply to BA for a pilots job, they discover I get airsick and then let me go. Can I sue them because people with red hair are more succeptible to it????
The newspaper reports (I do not believe they are 100% accurate) claim that ATC "was his dream job". He got one with eurocontrol in the end. Should that not be enough.
How about if I apply to BA for a pilots job, they discover I get airsick and then let me go. Can I sue them because people with red hair are more succeptible to it????
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 1,757
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From: Apa, apo ndi kulikonse!
GT3 Fast-car-wannabees with ginge hair should never be allowed to sue!!
(you coming to Brands?)
On a serious note - I am not sure NATS are being sued as such. At least he got a job elsewhere. He doesn't seem to have acted too ungentlemanly to me.
(you coming to Brands?)
On a serious note - I am not sure NATS are being sued as such. At least he got a job elsewhere. He doesn't seem to have acted too ungentlemanly to me.
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 21
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From: nottingham
Hi guys,
As you may of gathered its been a bit manic recently. I had no idea that there would be so much interest in this story, and so was caught a little off guard with all the attention.
I would like to thank everyone for there support so far, as I believe that this case will run on for sometime yet.
Off the record GT3 - You raise some interesting points. But why can't I be an ATCO and you can. I don't have a dodgy heart condition, or bad eye sight, I am just taller. I have fulfilled the same conditions for selection, so why should I be treated differently. There are also a lot of facts that aren’t reported here - it took over a year from the NATS medical to a DSE assessment. I was never told that my job was subject to completing this assessment but that it was to see if modifications should have been made. In total NATS wasted over 2 years of my life………..is it therefore unreasonable to ask for some compensation but more importantly make sure that this doesn't happen to anyone else and to change NATS perception towards tall people.
Once again I thank you all for your support, and will let you know the result as soon as I know (But you'll probably read about it before then!!!)
Cheers guys.
Ben
(P.S. I see that I am sueing them, I'm not, I am asking for the pay lost through this whole thing. The figure I believe is 11,000 pounds, not much I think you'll agree)
As you may of gathered its been a bit manic recently. I had no idea that there would be so much interest in this story, and so was caught a little off guard with all the attention.
I would like to thank everyone for there support so far, as I believe that this case will run on for sometime yet.
Off the record GT3 - You raise some interesting points. But why can't I be an ATCO and you can. I don't have a dodgy heart condition, or bad eye sight, I am just taller. I have fulfilled the same conditions for selection, so why should I be treated differently. There are also a lot of facts that aren’t reported here - it took over a year from the NATS medical to a DSE assessment. I was never told that my job was subject to completing this assessment but that it was to see if modifications should have been made. In total NATS wasted over 2 years of my life………..is it therefore unreasonable to ask for some compensation but more importantly make sure that this doesn't happen to anyone else and to change NATS perception towards tall people.
Once again I thank you all for your support, and will let you know the result as soon as I know (But you'll probably read about it before then!!!)
Cheers guys.
Ben
(P.S. I see that I am sueing them, I'm not, I am asking for the pay lost through this whole thing. The figure I believe is 11,000 pounds, not much I think you'll agree)
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 132
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From: Costa del Hampshire
The point of a tribunal is to gain some form of compensation (be it monetary or by way of apology) for the upset caused from what appears to be an unfair decision by the company concerned.
It is also so that the company does not do such things again and can put in place procedures in case they find themselves in a similar position.
Yes, Ben has managed to get a job in Luxembourg but this has meant that he has had to move to spend more time looking for a job, interviewing etc, and then move to a new country in order to take the position. NATS acted unfairly, in a lot of peoples opinions, and Ben therefore has every right to demand some for of reccompence.
It is also so that the company does not do such things again and can put in place procedures in case they find themselves in a similar position.
Yes, Ben has managed to get a job in Luxembourg but this has meant that he has had to move to spend more time looking for a job, interviewing etc, and then move to a new country in order to take the position. NATS acted unfairly, in a lot of peoples opinions, and Ben therefore has every right to demand some for of reccompence.
Thread Starter
Joined: Nov 2003
Posts: 21
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From: nottingham
Hiya AlanM,
NATS sent an email with my selection results to Eurocontrol. I don't know how much this helped, but I still had to undergo the same selection tests as everyone else, and as far as I could tell was treated no differently than anyother applicant.
Ben
NATS sent an email with my selection results to Eurocontrol. I don't know how much this helped, but I still had to undergo the same selection tests as everyone else, and as far as I could tell was treated no differently than anyother applicant.
Ben
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 1,757
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From: Apa, apo ndi kulikonse!
OK - hope it works out or you. As I said, if it stops someone having to go through similar turmoil in the future then something has been achieved.
For a company who's only real asset is it's people we should probably try harder!
For a company who's only real asset is it's people we should probably try harder!
More than just an ATCO
Joined: Jul 1999
Posts: 1,773
Likes: 1
From: Up someone's nose
Nats is making work stations adaptable for taller people and hopes to have the changes in place by 2012
FWIW The consoles at Maastricht, where he will end up, were designed as "one size fits all". Nothing too complicated really; the ideal height for the eyes is marked beside the screen and you raise or lower the seat to reach this if you wish. The worktable and footrest heights can then be adjusted elecrically until you feel comfortable
Good luck in IANS, just duck as you enter the building.
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 210
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From: escaped from NERC
Just posted on the BBC News website -
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4227752.stm
Ben lost his case at the employment tribunal
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/4227752.stm
Ben lost his case at the employment tribunal
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 183
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From: IOM
Damn, double damn!!
Sorry to hear about the tribunal, Ben.
With regards to a post on the previous page, about the fact he still got a job with EuroControl, and isnt that enough;
Well, say you wanted a job with BA, and it was your dream to work for them, but instead they reject you and you end up working for another company.
Still a good company, yet not the one you always hoped of working for. Yes it's still the same type of job, but in a different manner, it's not what you had planned, and not what you were hoping for.
And Ben, met you up at the IFC in July mate (I was the one confused at which 'Ben' of Vatsim-UK you were, gawd your taller than me! Didnt think that was possible!! Take care mate, all the best at EuroControl!
Regards,
RR
Sorry to hear about the tribunal, Ben.
With regards to a post on the previous page, about the fact he still got a job with EuroControl, and isnt that enough;
Well, say you wanted a job with BA, and it was your dream to work for them, but instead they reject you and you end up working for another company.
Still a good company, yet not the one you always hoped of working for. Yes it's still the same type of job, but in a different manner, it's not what you had planned, and not what you were hoping for.
And Ben, met you up at the IFC in July mate (I was the one confused at which 'Ben' of Vatsim-UK you were, gawd your taller than me! Didnt think that was possible
!! Take care mate, all the best at EuroControl!Regards,
RR
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 359
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Bad news. To be judged and rejected on the basis of height is bad, very bad.
Ok, it's probably not something NATS had thought about before - and probably now have a height limit in place (do they?).
I never believed that this was really 'indirect sex discrimination' and I'm glad it was proved not to be.
Mr Sargeaunt-Thomson said: "I will fight this as far as I can because I do believe I should not be discriminated against because of my height in the same way as you cannot discriminate against someone in a wheelchair.
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 15
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From: Swanwick
Hi Ben... been following your case here and in the news - i nearly asked if you intended taking it to a higher court but resisted in case people thought I was making a bad pun.
Is it worth keeping up the fight or are you just ready to move on from all the hassel? good luck whatever you decide, and keep us all posted on how you are getting on...
Mart
Is it worth keeping up the fight or are you just ready to move on from all the hassel? good luck whatever you decide, and keep us all posted on how you are getting on...
Mart
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 94
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From: swanwick
Quite right, but not putting someone in a job because it may damage them or they are physically unable to operate the equipment is not discrimination. It's showing consideration for the indivduals welfare.
This is not a spiteful comment, I wish you all the best.
Enjoy Eurocontrol
