An employee with the New York Public Library is demanding $4.6 million in damages for allegedly being forced to work at a desk that is too small for his 6-foot-2, 360-pound frame.
William Martin, the plaintiff, filed the lawsuit with Brooklyn federal court, claiming the years he spent at the tiny desk ‘traumatized’ him, the New York Post reported.
A spokesperson for the library said Martin’s case is ‘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,’ the library said in a statement.
Martin, who’s worked in the library system for over 18 years, said his ordeal began in October 2021 when he was transferred to the first-floor service of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library on Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.
The desk has a staggered countertop with about a 12-inch drop. Martin called his working area ‘crampy,’ in the lawsuit.
‘All I sought was just a service desk with the appropriate accommodation given my physical attributes,’ he wrote in the legal filing, which accused his bosses of discrimination and harassment.
His union intervened on his behalf at some point, getting him switched over to a different desk within the library.
William Martin, pictured, sued the New York Public Library for not accommodating for his large frame when assigning him a desk
Martin said he was assigned the cramped desk at Manhattan’s Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library, pictured
Two years later in June 2023, a new assistant director was hired. This woman allegedly ordered Martin back to work at the cramped first-floor desk.
After Martin hired a lawyer and complained, he said his treatment at work only got worse.
The director allegedly ‘dramatically increased’ how often she put Martin at the small desk, which he said was ‘detrimental to his health and safety,’ according to the lawsuit.
It was the director’s way of bullying and intimidating him, according to the legal complaint.
A few months later, Martin claimed he was ‘falsely accused’ of falling asleep while working and later suspended.
This prompted him to ask for a transfer and seek medical leave for his anxiety and depression, per the lawsuit.
Martin, who used to run a sports blog called ‘300lbsofsportsknowledge,’ claims in the suit that his ‘mental health has been damaged to such extent that . . . he would tremble just at the thought of going back to work.’
