Friday, April 18, 2008
Name calling.
A teacher whose pupils poked fun at him because of his baldness has lost his claim that he was a victim of disability discrimination. James Campbell, 61, a former art teacher at Denny High School in Stirlingshire, took Falkirk Council to an employment tribunal over the issue, saying he had suffered harassment at the hands of his pupils, who saw his baldness as a weakness.
Falkirk Council argued that baldness was not a physical or mental impairment, and therefore was not covered by the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). In his ruling, the tribunal judge Robert Gall said: "[This] would take the definition of impairment too far. If baldness was to be regarded as an impairment then perhaps... a big nose [or] big ears might [also] be regarded as an impairment under the DDA."
...Some people do put silly claims into court and this case is a good example. I agree with Judge Robert Gall and I think that James Campbell was being extremely childish. Baldness is not a disability and some men shave their heads as a fashion statement. This becomes their style and they hold their heads up high. All James Campbell had was simple name calling which any normal adult would simply ignore. He should grow up and it makes me wonder why a man of 61 is making such a fuss. Maybe he wanted to leave his job and decided to try and screw some money out of the council? Thank goodness this judge had common sense!
A teacher whose pupils poked fun at him because of his baldness has lost his claim that he was a victim of disability discrimination. James Campbell, 61, a former art teacher at Denny High School in Stirlingshire, took Falkirk Council to an employment tribunal over the issue, saying he had suffered harassment at the hands of his pupils, who saw his baldness as a weakness.
Falkirk Council argued that baldness was not a physical or mental impairment, and therefore was not covered by the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). In his ruling, the tribunal judge Robert Gall said: "[This] would take the definition of impairment too far. If baldness was to be regarded as an impairment then perhaps... a big nose [or] big ears might [also] be regarded as an impairment under the DDA."
...Some people do put silly claims into court and this case is a good example. I agree with Judge Robert Gall and I think that James Campbell was being extremely childish. Baldness is not a disability and some men shave their heads as a fashion statement. This becomes their style and they hold their heads up high. All James Campbell had was simple name calling which any normal adult would simply ignore. He should grow up and it makes me wonder why a man of 61 is making such a fuss. Maybe he wanted to leave his job and decided to try and screw some money out of the council? Thank goodness this judge had common sense!
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