Posted on 05/18/2011 10:30:13 AM PDT by matt1234
The federal government is suing Starbucks for firing a dwarf.
According to Reuters, the barista, at a store in El Paso, TX, requested a stool or small stepladder to do her job. Starbucks denied the request and fired her that same day. The company said she could have been a danger to employees and customers.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission said after three days of training, the store should have made a reasonable accommodation for the woman.
He didnt’ need to get on a ladder to take out a whole bunch of orcs.
He didnt’ need to get on a ladder to take out a whole bunch of orcs.
I understand Starbucks position, everything is so high there.
There had to be SOME connection.
IIRC, Mugs won the NBA slam-dunk competition, all 5’7’’ of hisself.
A couple of the talk shows on KLBJ had this on yesterday. Several callers made a point I didn't think about, but can you imagine the danger a stool or ladder behind the counter would cause during busy periods? She needed a stool to get to hand a cup of coffee to customers and had to use both hands.
Imagine the lawsuit if she had spilled a cup on a customer or if she had fallen off the stool and pulled a full pot of coffee onto herself. I'll stand with Starbucks on this one.
She can make a lot more money playing professional basketball than she can going back to Starbucks.
how about a wheelchair?
at some point the job has requirements.
what next? sue basketball for dwarf quotas?
I mean, I doubt she suddenly BECOME a dwarf after shed been working there a few weeks.
No, from the article "said after three days of training, the store should have made a reasonable accommodation for the woman." She was not the only one not retained after the training.
She could go back to work in the diamond mine.
I know it was sarcastic yesterday when a person called into KLBJ and made that very same statement. Was that you?
“If Starbucks hired this person then they should have made it possible for the employee to do a job. I dont think a stool is completely out of the question or an over the top demand. Me-thinks Starbucks hired a little person to appear like they hire people with a disability and then rethought their decision. That being said, little people didnt ask to be born that way and have to make a living just like everyone else.”
My thought too...except now their phoney conscience and little disingenuous PC BS “acts” of acceptance spills in their lap like a hot coffee...if they really gave a crap for this person, they would have made it work. Was nothing more than a act.
They shouldn’t have hired her in the first place. The fact that Starbucks hired her, they were under obligation to accomodate her, in a reasonable fashion, for her condition
One of the ways they could have accomododated her was to give her duties that were within her abilities, even if it meant splitting her between sites.
“Imagine the lawsuit if she had spilled a cup on a customer or if she had fallen off the stool and pulled a full pot of coffee onto herself. I’ll stand with Starbucks on this one.”
What job did Starbuck expect her to do? It is obvious to the “reasonable person” that her size determined the specifics of what tasks she was able to accomplish. If they want her to work the coffee machines, hand people the finished products, use the cash register... she must be able to reach those tools.
She will win a large sum of money because management is stupid.
from the article "said after three days of training, the store should have made a reasonable accommodation for the woman." {I will highlight this} She was not the only one not retained after the training.
So you’re OK with the blind airlines pilot? You’ll fly on his plane? The deaf audio engineer? You’ll buy his records? You’ll be fine with the guy who wants to be neurosurgeon who was born with the shakes/tremors? You’ll let him operate on you or your family? How many more should I come up with. The guy born with no arms who wants to be a paperhanger? You’ll hire him to wallpaper your house? Give it a rest!
Application of a little common sense goes a long way. Just because someone has a “disability” or is born with some outside the norm physical disability doesn’t/shouldn’t require all the rest of the world to adapt because of their infirmity. Just ‘cuz a blind guy wants to be a race car driver shouldn’t require NASCAR to totally change their whole program and facilities to accommodate him.
And yeah, I know whereof I speak, having been half deaf from grade school. And I’ve wanted to be an astronaut all my life, so should NASA be forced to accept me and make “accommodations” at 65+, with a bad back, only half hearing, bad eyesight, overweight and a cardiac arrhythmia?? After all, it’s only a matter of degree between me and the dwarf at Starbucks.
“She was not the only one not retained after the training.”
All the training in the world will not make her taller.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.