Baldness not a disability, tribunal rules

STIRLINGSHIRE, Scotland - James Campbell, 61, a former art teacher at Denny High School in Stirlingshire, Scotland has failed in his bid to prove that he was discriminated against because of his baldness.

Campbell took the Falkirk Council to a Glasgow employment tribunal over the issue, claiming that he had suffered from harassment at the hands of pupils and that his baldness had a "substantial and long term adverse effect" on his ability to do his job.

The former teacher, who retired in 2007, said he avoided corridors in the school where he would meet pupils to avoid them shouting ''baldy."  He added: ''I left school later at night after the bell went to avoid the kids."  Speaking during the hearing, Campbell asked: "How can I stand in front of a class with confidence to get on with my job when I am getting teased and bullied about baldness, when I think they are laughing at me all the time?"

Tribunal judge Robert Gall dismissed the complaint. In his view, the fact that Campbell's baldness was used by others to taunt him did not mean it was a disability under Scotland's Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). "If baldness was to be regarded as an impairment then perhaps a physical feature such as a big nose, big ears or being smaller than average height might of themselves be regarded as an impairment under the DDA," Gall stated. "That, to me, cannot be right."

Royalty trashed, employee bashed, management lashed

FORT CHAMBLY, Quebec – Micshelle Courtemanche, an employee with Parks Canada who worked on exhibits at a historic site, was recently disciplined for posting a historic quotation on her locker at work. The quotation, taken from the will of an 18th century writer and friend of Voltaire, read: "I should like to see, and this will be the last and most ardent of my desires, I should like to see the last king strangled with the guts of the last priest."

Courtemanche explained that she posted the quotation because she found it humorous, but management was not persuaded. The regional director for historic sites took the position that since priests and kings were authority figures, they stood for management, and the quotation was a violent, even threatening, quote against management. Courtemanche received a one-day disciplinary suspension and was transferred to another historic site, which took her an extra hour to reach from home.

Work ethic takes a hit in Franklin County

PASCO, Wash – Police in Franklin County, Wash., report that a man had his friend shoot him in the shoulder so that he wouldn’t have to go to work.

When he first spoke with sheriff's deputies, Daniel Kuch told them he’d been the victim of a drive-by shooting while he was out jogging. However, detectives told KONA radio that Kuch later acknowledged that he asked a friend to shoot him so that he could get some time off work and avoid a drug test.

Crushing workload disallowed in Aussie bar

PERTH, Australia – An Australian barmaid, Luana De Faveri, was fined 1,000 dollars (US $900 dollars) in the Mandurah Magistrates Court in Western Australia after pleading guilty to two breaches of the Liquor Control Act. De Faveri was accused of hanging spoons on her nipples, as a means of entertaining patrons at the Premier Hotel in Pinjarra, about 80 kilometres south of Perth. She was also alleged to have crushed beer cans between her breasts.

Staff denied time off in loo

VIENNA, Austria – A baker who required his staff to pay for the time they spent in the washroom has been forced to end the practice to avoid a court case.

The owner of the bakery in Eisenstadt, Austria recorded restroom visits on a computer and reduced the annual holiday bonus by the value of the bathroom time, said Christian Drobits, a lawyer for a former employee who started a legal action.