Yes congratulations mate. Keep the same attitude towards all that training and I'm sure you'll do well. Nice one:ok:

Marvelous news, and good luck Ben.

:ok:

The (no doubt enviously runty) spankers who knocked you back at home should be farkt & burnt.

Cheers everyone, a name plate hay, I might need that after a night out to remember who I am!!!!!!!!!

Seriously, cheers all, and if you want to forward it on it would be greatly recieved!

Cheers.

Ben

I just found out the height requirements from the NATS application form on the internet:

Are you between 151.4 cm (59.6 in) and 186.9 cm (73.6 in)? in height

Good Lord! At least 3 controllers in my group are well above that, (including me). What possible need is there to only select runts? Do you have to clean the chimneys during your breaks?

It is the stupidest form of discrimination I've ever heard of, does your union have a position on this farcical ruling?

Hold on, I'm 190 cm and I'm certainly not the tallest on our watch. Are we all going to be offered reduction surgery to meet the new NATS-approved height criteria?:{

I understand an existing tall NATS controller is taking NATS to court for damages caused to him/her by the ergonomics of the furniture over the years.

One way to stop this happening again is to impose a height limit I suppose.

Meanwhile, the vast majority of tall folks work on as normal ..... always one bad apple to spoil it for the rest I guess :\

http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/mai...29/ntall29.xml

A 6ft 10in graduate was refused a job as an air traffic controller because he was considered too tall to sit at his desk, an employment tribunal heard yesterday.

Ben Sargeaunt-Thomson, 23, had been accepted for the post but at his medical the doctor's height chart stopped short of the top of his head and he was failed on health and safety grounds.

Mr Sargeaunt-Thomson suggested ways in which his "work station" could be adapted, but when the National Air Traffic Services (Nats) control centre at Swanwick, Hants, insisted on withdrawing its offer he took it to an employment tribunal.

The Nottingham Trent physics graduate, who has size 14 feet and a 38 in leg, alleges indirect sexual discrimination, arguing that only a man could reach 6ft 10ins.

The tribunal, in Southampton, heard that Nats decided he would be unable to sit comfortably and that this posed a "danger". There was no practical solution and the job he had been offered in 2003 while still at university was no longer open to him.

Mr Sargeaunt-Thomson, who is still growing, told the tribunal: "I have wanted to be an air traffic controller since I was 13 or 14. It was my dream job.

"During the assessments it became apparent my legs were too long to fit under the control centre's work stations. I tried to position the chair differently but there was not enough legroom for me to sit comfortably."

He said that anyone taller than 6ft 2in would struggle to use the work stations. "Bearing in mind that men are generally taller than women, this is indirectly discriminating against men."

Andrew Hutchinson, the head of recruitment at Nats, said Mr Sargeaunt-Thomson would have had difficulty using the equipment. But the decision to withdraw the offer was taken reluctantly, "particularly as Ben was incredibly keen".

Mr Sargeaunt-Thomson, from Northampton, has since been offered an air traffic control trainee job in Luxembourg at a centre with adjustable desks.

Nats is making work stations adaptable for taller people and hopes to have the changes in place by 2012.

Judgment was reserved.

Luxembourg, what a lovely place to work; I'm envious. I love the airport as well

Coverage in the Metro free morning paper as well today on this - hope things work out :ok:

Are you still out there Ben??

How you getting on at Eurocontrol?

Also in the Guardian with a photo (not in the web version unfortunately). Good luck, Ben!

TV

Hope all goes well in the end Ben, if not the dizzy lights of Blackpool and the tram lines await, not forgetting the Breasticles!

You're a star in the Express and BBC News online.

Best of luck at Eurocontrol.........how are the adjustable desks? ;)

Ben's a bit busy at the mo jetting about posing for photos etc.. ;) He's says thanks for all the support and he'll make a post on Monday when he gets back to Luxembourg. Go get them mate :ok:

Glad to hear you got some support and took the buggers to court. All the best for your training...

Am I the only one who is a bit perplexed by this?

Its not NATS fault really.

Of course its NATS fault. They presumably knew about his height when he came for interview/assessments. To let him pass all of that and then turn him down on medical grounds is quite criminal in my opinion. Hopefully NATS will get exactly what they deserve.

Perplexed? You obviousely don't undertstand internet users. We love to have a bit of a rant. In any event this is about the plucky little (little?) man winning against the odds. It is the English way. Alf Tupper against the toffs.

http://jm.g.free.fr/smileys/angrysoapbox.sml.gif

Could have been worse, they could have kept quiet until the last summative at the college, then chopped him...

I'm erm, taller than the 'maximum' height as mentioned before. Should I jump before I'm pushed?