A New York City library worker, who is 6ft 2 inches tall and weighs 360 pounds, is suing his employers for $4.6 million after he was allegedly forced to work at a desk that was too small for him and caused him to suffer serious mental health problems.
William Martin claims that not only were his concerns ignored by management at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL) but that he was intentionally scheduled to work at the “crampy” desk in order to show him “who was boss.”
Martin is suing SNFL for discrimination, workplace harassment and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. He also claims he was defamed by a fellow worker who accused him of falling asleep on the job.
According to a lawsuit filed earlier this month, Martin first brought his health and safety concerns about the first-floor service desk to his employers in October 2021. He said that the desk, which had a staggered countertop and a 12-inch drop, lacked the necessary accommodations for a man of his size.
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, stated.
Though his supervisor was initially “quite empathetic to his plight,” higher-ups refused to intervene, and Martin was forced to involve his union and he was later moved off the desk.
However, in June 2023 he was forced to raise the issue again, this time via legal counsel, after another supervisor assigned him to the inadequate desk.
This resulted in a supervisor changing the desk assignment 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 stated. “Thus, the SNFL apparently retaliated by forcing William to do exactly the one thing he knew detrimental to his health and safety.”
The library management’s “outrageous pattern of discrimination, harassment and hostile work environment has since escalated,” according to the suit, with Martin being forced 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 said.
The lawsuit also claimed that, in addition to scheduling Martin to work on the small desk, the library’s HR department later claimed they had no record of him raising concerns about his health in 2021.
He was also suspended following “Kangaroo court proceedings” where he was “cornered” by a supervisor for a meeting in which he did not have a union rep present. In September 2023, a supervising Librarian also defamed William by falsely claiming he saw 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 stated.
In the lawsuit Martin has called for damages totalling $4.6 million, plus any other sum that the court deems necessary.
A spokesperson for the organization told 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 said.
