This library job wasn’t good for his circulation.
A 6-foot-2, 360-pound New York Public Library worker claims he’s been “traumatized” by being compelled to work at a desk that’s too small — and desires $4.6 million to make up for it.
William Martin’s page-turning story started in October 2021 when he was informed to work on the first-floor service desk on the Stavros Niarchos Basis Library on Fifth Avenue in Midtown.
The welcome desk contains a staggered countertop with a roughly 12-inch drop, and was “crampy,” the library data assistant groused in a Brooklyn Federal Court docket lawsuit.
“All I sought was only a service desk with the suitable lodging given my bodily attributes,” he mentioned within the authorized submitting accusing his superiors of discrimination and harassment.
His union ultimately intervened, serving to Martin get assigned to totally different service desks inside the library.
However almost two years later, he discovered himself in a bind once more.
In June 2023 a brand new assistant director, was allegedly not on the identical web page as Martin, ordering him again to work on the cramped first-floor desk, based on courtroom paperwork.
Issues solely received worse after he complained and received a lawyer concerned.
The director allegedly “dramatically elevated” how usually she assigned Martin to the small desk, which was “detrimental to his well being and security,” Martin mentioned within the authorized submitting. It was the director’s “method to bully William and intimidate him, exhibiting him ‘who’s the boss.’”
A number of months later, Martin was “falsely accused” of sleeping on the job, and later suspended — prompting him to ask for a switch and search medical depart for anxiousness and despair, the go well with claims.
Martin, who as soon as ran a sports activities weblog referred to as “300lbsofsportsknowledge,” claims his “psychological well being has been broken to such extent that . . . he would tremble simply on the considered going again to work,” he mentioned within the lawsuit.
Martin is asking a decide to power the library to approve a depart, together with a hefty sum.
The case is “with out advantage,” a spokesperson for the New York Public Library mentioned, including, “We take worker lodging and issues with utmost seriousness, and are devoted to treating our employees throughout the Library with equity and respect.”
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