On Tuesday 23 June 2009 21:06:27 Kendall D. Corbett wrote:
> I was banished to the stockroom, says disabled shop girl now suing
> Abercrombie & Fitch for discrimination
>
> A disabled law student is suing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch for
> discrimination, claiming it made her work in a stockroom because her
> prosthetic arm didn't fit its public image.
>
>
> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1192674/I-banished-stockroom-says-d
>isabled-shop-girl-suing-Abercrombie--Fitch-discrimination.html
>
> The reaction to BBC Children's program host Cerrie Burnell in February was
> eerily similar. Does Abercrombie and Fitch feel that they were
> given "permission" to react the way they did by the situation with Ms.
> Burnell?
>
> In the US, this would be a violation of the ADA. Does Britain have similar
> legislation?
>
> http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=6946286&page=1
>
> If an attractive young woman with an amputation is too "ugly" to work on
> the retail floor of a major store, what does that tell the rest of the
> British population with disabilities? Deri, your input is requested
>


Hi, the first one is a story about an American Company obsessed with its own 
"brand style". Its not really a disability story, anyone without "the look" 
gets put in the "back room"!! She's suing under employment discrimination law 
(covers age, sex, race, disability, etc.). Whether she wins or not will 
probably depend on her contract of employment. Its likely that all are 
employed as "shop staff" and paid the same salary, it would then be down to 
management to allocate tasks (the  one's with "the look" getting the front of 
shop jobs). So long as the grades & salaries are the same it would be difficult 
to show any discrimination. 

The BBC initially received 9 complaints about the amputee presenter, it then 
became a media "story". The BBC completely ignored the complaints, in fact I 
have seen her far more on prime time tv recently - it certainly hasn't harmed 
her career (wonder if she sent in the "complaints" herself!!).

Cheers

Deri

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