Period Dignity Officer is suing the group that appointed him

[Gymnopedie]

BBC story

He's claiming sex discrimination. So many people have said that this appointment should have been exempt from the Equalities Act, I wonder if he'll succeed?

He's also claiming he was sacked, whereas the statements so far have been that the post was being removed, which isn't the same thing.

It sounds like his departure will be just as much of a dog's breakfast as his arrival. I hope he doesn't win.

Surely the presence of knobs is what’s caused the problem 😀

😂

From his solicitor, quoted in the BBC article:

There are many legal issues arising not only from his appointment but in the decisions that have been made not to support Jason or stand by their appointment which could impact his health, career and future prospects.

If what's being said is true he doesn't need to worry about his career and future prospects, his mate will find him another job pronto.

However if the proper process wasn't followed then it's fair that he should claim compensation, however he got the job. What I don't want him to do is win the discrimination part of the action. From the same solicitor: If Jason was not a man, would he have been dismissed from the role?

That's going to be very difficult to prove. If a woman had been appointed there wouldn't have been the outcry and abuse (does anyone know what the abuse was) that there was about his appointment. And again, was he dismissed? Or was the role withdrawn? If it was decided to do away with the post, discrimination would appear not to be involved.

Well thats one way of helping save council coffers!!

Very worrying precedent to say the job has to be only for a woman.

If

And its a big if, if DCC are involved, he was the best candidate then fair enough.

By this logic should all midwifes be women?

The world's gone nuts!

God almighty that photo. The optics are a nightmare.

It was a dodgy appointment by his mate who seems weirdly invested in giving this guy jobs.

if it's true the advertising window was short, and the job advertised in the wrong place, and he was appointed by someone who has appointed him to his last three jobs, then something is somewhat awry.

And if he wasn't going to be explaining periods to women and girls, then why have that photo that makes it look like he's doing exactly that.

As for talking about menopause, if he were explaining it to me I'd be wondering WTF.

But he does have a point about being sacked etc.!

Must be that time of the month .

That's an interesting question. There was a thread in FWR a while back looking at some frankly creepy and disgusting behaviour by male midwives. For such a small percentage of the midwifery profession there was an alarming amount of totally inappropriate behaviour in some male midwives. I feel sorry for the good ones but I feel sorrier still for the women harmed by these creeps.

Oh lord the bright red polo top 😳🤣

I cannot get my head round this story. Did they honestly think it would end well??

It's also a bit hilarious although that poor young girl is probably wishing the ground would open up and swallow her too, can you imagine ...

"So mooncups ... tricky devils, ..."

"the most qualified person for the position"

What the hell did they do, wrestle for it?!

He might have brought a claim - that doesn't mean it will ultimately be successful.

That said, whether appropriate procedures were followed when appointing him is irrelevant to be honest. He was appointed and therefore has the right not to be discriminated against on the grounds of sex.

Any issues regarding the individual who appointed him/the process should be perused by the employer separately. If he was dismissed because of the recruiting errors then his dismissal may well not be connected to his sex.

There is nowhere near enough information to really make a judgement on it really.

Interesting point re midwives

I think men should obviously be able to train as midwives if they wish but I believe women should always have the option to be cared for by another woman, and never judged for doing so. Hate seeing butthurt male midwives or medical students complaining about women declining their care, if you want to go into that role you should be respectful of women and that means understanding many women do not want to be cared for in an intimate situation by a male. Any decent man would understand this.

I think he has good grounds, tbf. If this had happened to a woman would there has been the same anger...?

It would probably improve the optics if they showed him standing outside school gates, opening the flap of a massive trench coat to showcase an array of tampons.

His solicitor asks how we would feel if he was our son ... well, I would feel I had failed if my son thought himself the best person for this role.

he shouldn’t have been appointed in the first place if they’d had any sense. I imagine the court case would be pretty messy.

I was wondering about the female only midwife thing the other day. I was fine with a male obstetrician, male anesthetist in my first birth but I don’t think I’d have liked a male midwife doing a sweep. I can’t rationalise why but I can see why a lot of women would struggle.

Who appointed him in the first place ?

Urgh that picture is so weird. I'd hate to discuss my menstrual cycle with some random dude in a red T shirt with his big beardy mate sat next to him.

No, not all midwives should be women, however I believe women have the right to request a female only midwife if it makes them feel more comfortable, dignified or indeed safe for anyone who's suffered male trauma.

Likewise, for a young teenage girl to discuss any extremely intimate aspect of their period, I would wager they'd prefer to discuss it with a woman than a man. I'd go as far as to say any self respecting man would realise this and not put girls in that embarrassing position.

This is an aside, as the whole saga stinks. He was recruited by his "friend", the job wasn't advertised correctly, freedom of information won't be provided around how many candidates applied (I'd hazard a guess of ONE!) I suspect the "abuse" he received was women expressing an opinion on this. Popcorn for this one.

Whoever invented this post and hired him, then fired him without due process, has fucked up. I'm not surprised he's taking legal action although I have no idea what he was thinking applying for, and accepting the job in the first place.

Absolutely correct .

Yep.

And furthermore, the idiots that invented this whole daft idea have the gall to blame 'threats and abuse' for scrapping the role rather than holding their hands up and saying 'we fucked up'