Flight attendant discrimination tribunal

Back from just over a week off and the BBC are running the kind of story I like to use as a discussion point in training sessions. The BBC story is about a head flight attendant who claims her boss (who runs a small charter flight company) forced her to only employ young, slim, attractive, single women. Men were definitely not allowed as she claims that her boss would not tolerate male flight attendants as he believed all male flight attendants are gay.

I would use this story as a talking point for a number of reasons - looking at the alleged stipulation of who could be employed I'd get trainees to identify who is being excluded. Sounds obvious but many people don't realise that gender legislation includes marital status. Also the stipulation of "attractiveness" is always an interesting one to discuss.

Every training session will include someone asking about jobs that stipulate a requirement of attractiveness. I usually end up talking about the case of a person with a facial disfigurement who was refused entry to a wine bar because the wine bar bouncer felt she "didn't look right" for the bar. That bar would also turn away customers who were scruffy or who had poor hygiene. It's a good one to unpack and working close to Oxford Street someone always mentions certain fashion outlets who ask for a photo of applicants before an interview. One way I've heard of that certain fashion stores get round being discriminatory is by now advertising for in-store models, by doing this they can justify why they need someone who is well groomed and fits into their clothes nicely. I'd be interested to know how they would respond to a visibly disabled person - say a stunningly beautiful and model skinny wheelchair user? Any way this kind of thing always gets a lot of discussion about not just disability but age, and racial stereo types relating to social standards of "attractiveness."