No stairlift for you, sonny
- 10 Jan 07, 10:04 AM
Here's one of Monkey's favourite types of blog entry - yep, it's from the "Honestly, You Couldn't Make This Stuff Up" file. And today's new entrant to that bulging collection is all about the very well-known stairlift company that one of their own products in their main offices as a reasonable adjustment for a disabled employee.
That sound you can hear is just me repeatedly slapping my forehead with a banana.
David Ratcliffe, aged 36, an IT designer who walks with crutches, took Stannah Stairlifts to an employment tribunal after they refused to install a stairlift in their Andover headquarters to help him go up and down the stairs to his office on the second floor. His line manager had laughed off the idea, saying that if they put one in everyone would want to ride up and down on it and no work would get done - and this despite the fact that Mr Ratcliffe wasn't the only disabled worker in the company who struggled with the stairs.
Now I, Crippled Monkey, will confess to being bit of a thrill-seeker on the quiet, but I've never been known to spend hours riding a stairlift for fun! Well, not unless it's one of those ridiculously fast ones powered by a jet engine.
Two weeks after starting work with the company, Mr Ratcliffe's contract was terminated because, apparently, Stannah had "grave concerns" about his training and conduct. The tribunal, however, found in his favour and awarded him £6000, saying that Stannah Stairlifts discriminated against Mr Ratcliffe as a disabled person by failing in its duty to make reasonable adjustments.
I bet June Whitfield never had these problems.
Comments
Ratcliffe was realy a fighter....what about others?
How come David Ratcliffe never wrote about his disability on the Health Sheet when he first joined, or did he forget he had a bad back!!
The national newspapers that printed this article have now all made apologies as they got the facts wrong. Stannah have published their response on their website.
You don't need to add this comment but perhaps you could investigate further and modify you blog accordingly too.