Library employee who’s over 6 foot and 360 kilos sues over ‘trauma’ from working at a small desk | EUROtoday

A New York City library employee, who’s 6ft 2 inches tall and weighs 360 kilos, is suing his employers for $4.6 million after he was allegedly pressured to work at a desk that was too small for him and prompted him to endure critical psychological well being issues.

William Martin claims that not solely have been his issues ignored by administration on the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL) however that he was deliberately scheduled to work on the “crampy” desk as a way to present him “who was boss.”

Martin is suing SNFL for discrimination, office harassment and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional misery. He additionally claims he was defamed by a fellow employee who accused him of falling asleep on the job.

According to a lawsuit filed earlier this month, Martin first introduced his well being and security issues in regards to the first-floor service desk to his employers in October 2021. He stated that the desk, which had a staggered countertop and a 12-inch drop, lacked the mandatory lodging for a person of his dimension.

Martin “requested a service desk with the appropriate and necessary accommodations such as sufficient leg room and even countertop,” the lawsuit, obtained by The Independent, acknowledged.

Though his supervisor was initially “quite empathetic to his plight,” higher-ups refused to intervene, and Martin was pressured to contain his union and he was later moved off the desk.

However, in June 2023 he was pressured to lift the difficulty once more, this time through authorized counsel, after one other supervisor assigned him to the insufficient desk.

This resulted in a supervisor altering the desk project schedule for the month of July and “dramatically increas[ing] the frequency of assigning Williams to the aforementioned first-floor service desk that lacked the appropriate accommodations,” the lawsuit acknowledged. “Thus, the SNFL apparently retaliated by forcing William to do exactly the one thing he knew detrimental to his health and safety.”

The library administration’s “outrageous pattern of discrimination, harassment and hostile work environment has since escalated,” in line with the swimsuit, with Martin being pressured to work on the ill-fitting desk “weekly.” “It is the SNFL’s way to bully William and intimidate him, showing him ‘who is the boss,’” it stated.

The lawsuit additionally claimed that, along with scheduling Martin to work on the small desk, the library’s HR division later claimed they’d no report of him elevating issues about his well being in 2021.

He was additionally suspended following “Kangaroo court proceedings” the place he was “cornered” by a supervisor for a gathering by which he didn’t have a union rep current. In September 2023, a supervising Librarian additionally defamed William by falsely claiming he noticed Martin sleeping at work.

“William’s mental health has been damaged to such extent that he could no longer bring himself to work at the SNFL that has dehumanized him, that he would tremble just at the thought of going back to work at the SNFL, and that he has developed anxiety and depression,” the lawsuit acknowledged.

In the lawsuit Martin has known as for damages totalling $4.6 million, plus another sum that the courtroom deems needed.

A spokesperson for the group instructed The Independent that the case was “without merit. “We take employee accommodations and concerns with utmost seriousness, and are dedicated to treating our staff across the Library with fairness and respect,” they stated.