Discrimination
 

BBC News - RAF nurse Wendy Williams wins sexism tribunal

Anyone else hear the sound of floodgates opening as all those who feel they were overlooked for a particular job, command appointment or promotion due to their age/sex/branch/trade etc take the MOD to tribunal or is this one really a 'one-off' that was clear cut?

Discrimination indeed!
 

I love stories like this. They purport to highlight endemic discrimination because a lady was passed over in preference to a man. It seems to me that she was passed over because she was a nurse instead of a doctor. That is perhaps still discrimination, but in the medical world maybe that's just the way things need to work to get things done.
The other bit I love is the reporting of this:

...'low number of women in top ranks overall - amounting to between 1% and 1.3% of the total.'

I'm sure it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that there aren't as many women in the RAF as there are men and that, since many of them will take time off or even terminate their careers to have children, they may not have the length of career to reach the lofty heights. Maybe also it's due to the fact that to reach that rank you needed to have joined decades ago when equal opportunities weren't as well considered.
Times have changed now and I think the interests of women are very well looked after in the RAF (doesn't it keep winning female employer of the year?!) but do we really think we should now promote people because they are women? I hate this EO rubbish. Why can't we live in a world where the best person gets the job rather than filling quotas? Maybe the female Gp Capt was the best person in this instance and if that's the case she deserves to win her case and I sympathise wholeheartedly. I just wish it wasn't fought from a sexual discrimination standpoint.
I also note that there is a very low percentage of senior officers called Bob. Maybe it's time I launched a lawsuit of my own.
BV:ugh:

More detail here ...

BFBS News

Asks a real question about whether someone in the RAF should have a title such as Group Captain be it male or female if they have never flown.

It's like herding cats.

Unfair that one, as Nav not only tells Pilot where to go, Nav also shows him how to get there quickly :E

.... something the tribunal found "incredulous".

Almost as incredulous as I am that an industrial tribunal should have any say whatsoever in what is essentially a Service decision.

On this basis, and with his disabilities, Nelson should have been made an Admiral of the Fleet at a much earlier stage, as opposed to having to settle for being a mere Vice Admiral and a Viscount at the time of Trafalgar.

I trust that the "Group Captain" feels duly pleased with herself for apparently showing the Royal Air Force, which has almost certainly already afforded her the opportunity to advance herself a great deal further than she might have done in civilian life, in a relatively poor light.

Jack

Brigadier without a Brigade?

Really? Why? I smell something fishy, and I'm not talking about contents of Baldrick's apple crumble. What is this case really about? Is it about a Dr beating a Nurse to a promotion or is it about a man beating a woman to a promotion? It's difficult to tell from the partisan reporting that smacks of a mix of positive discrimination and a sense of "I've been a Gp Capt for longer than you so it must be my turn".

So what exactly made Gp Capt Williams the properly preffered candidate? At that level, you are in the General Duties field and it's open competitione across the Services. Length of time in rank is irrelevant if there is a high flyer coming up the tracks fast behind you.

She's been in since 1984 and only has 3 medals?

What is the first medal ?

It is some sort of Cross but couldn't find it.

looks like they went through their previous staff appraisals and decided hers had 'higher marks'.

interested to know if there was an interview - if not it looks like they were on thin ice and walked into it.

if there was an interview then the reviews should not be the deciding factor surely?

500N; The medal is a Royal Red Cross (RRC), awarded for excellence in Military nursing in UK Forces. Lower award is Associate Royal Red Cross (ARRC).

"Air Vice Marshal Mike Lloyd, who is now retired but was in charge of RAF personnel at the time, was also criticised for his lack of knowledge of discrimination legislation, something the tribunal found "incredulous"

I thought that Mike Lloyd was AOC 22 Trg Gp.

Duncs:ok:

" something the tribunal found "incredulous". " Incredulous doesn't mean unbelievable, it means unbelieving. What are tribunals coming to?

So, reading the article in the papers the suggestions seem to be;

1. The man selected for the job had 3 years less time in service than she had.

2. There is a low level of sex equality in high level positions in the RAF.

Not one mention of simple facts like, winning the promotion on merit or higher level of qualifications. I know my head is on a chopping block here, but can someone tell me why "equality" has to be a prime factor in selecting people for jobs ? Surely all that does is try and satisfy demand for biased recruiting, in favour of female candidates. In my day, any woman told she had been given a job " because she was a woman" would have told them where to put the job. Maybe being an old bloke brings this sort of thinking to mind. Any post should be filled by the best "person" for the job. It seems to me that in this case of sour grapes and a bit of free publicity.

Smudge

If the post really does prefer Doctors over Nurses then that should be documented and made clear to all candidates upon consideration. Unless of course it's one of those unwritten rules of the Forces Promotion Mysogony Club that sweet little things like this shouldn't worry their pretty little heads over. She called them on it and they got caught with their d!cks in the mangle - good for her. It's not 1853 and the Crimea you know.

"but can someone tell me why "equality" has to be a prime factor in selecting people for jobs ?"

Because the loony, latte sipping left where everyone wins, no one loses
but we want all the perks but non of the had work deem it to be the way !


Same as we have a PM in Aus who got the pre selection because of
"quotas" and has done such a fine job no woman will be voted to
high office for years !

I look forward to the next case....

"Gp Capt Gaffney sues for unfair dismissal"

They obviously thought she would be better suited to nurse her disappointment.




I know, hat coat time..