5ft female bus driver sacked for being 'too short' to safely do her job loses dismissal appeal

[GodAtum]

A five-foot bus driver has lost an appeal after she was dismissed because she could not use the wing mirrors safely.

Go North West changed the position of their buses' wing mirrors meaning mother-of-three Tracey Scholes, 57, had to lean around a pillar to see them, meaning she could not keep her feet on the pedals.

Mrs Scholes, a widow with 34 years' experience, was offered a different role on the company's school buses, which had more suitable mirrors, but the change would have meant a reduction in pay and hours worked.

She turned down the offer and she was given notice. The business said they had made 'numerous proposals' to keep her in the company.

After an appeal, with Mrs Scholes garnering support from a string of celebrities, the company agreed to offer the bus driver her current pay rate but with reduced hours, meaning she would still be losing £230 a month, the Unite union said.

Mrs Scholes, from Heywood, is now making a second appeal to keep her current hours - which would mean working just one extra hour a day.

5ft bus driver who was sacked for being 'too short' loses appeal

Go North West changed the position of their buses' wing mirrors meaning m other-of-three Tracey Scholes, 57, could not use them while keeping her feet on the pedals.

www.dailymail.co.uk

I do feel sorry for her. I would not want to be forced to a different role with a pay cut!

 

[scosutsut]

I presume they didn't "change the position of the mirrors" but in fact changed the vehicles?

Dangerous line that, sounds like failing to make reasonable adjustments for an employee.

 

[WatcherZero]

Its the Covid screens, they block the sightline to the inside wing mirror so the mirrors were repositioned.

 

[Bletchleyite]

I presume they didn't "change the position of the mirrors" but in fact changed the vehicles?

Dangerous line that, sounds like failing to make reasonable adjustments for an employee.

Irritatingly, height is not a protected characteristic.

 

[Hophead]

According to the BBC report, the change to the mirrors was agreed with the union, though they are also backing the driver. Unintended consequences.....

 

[scosutsut]

Its the Covid screens, they block the sightline to the inside wing mirror so the mirrors were repositioned.

Ahh makes sense.

Irritatingly, height is not a protected characteristic.

Wowsers! Every day is a school day!

 

[GusB]

For the sake of one hour a day, I do think this is rather unfair, especially if the employee has offered to be flexible in the type of work that she does. I wonder if it's because she has been there for so long and is presumably on 'legacy' terms on conditions that they're trying to get rid of her. With 34 years service, would she have started out with GM Buses?

 

[Bletchleyite]

Ahh makes sense.

Wowsers! Every day is a school day!

I wish it was (the other way) every time I use a bus, train or plane with no legroom!

 

[talltim]

Why does her marital status matter?

 

[Dai Corner]

Why does her marital status matter?

Or how many children she has.

It's a standard method journalists use to achieve the word count required when there's nothing else to say.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Or how many children she has.

It's a standard method journalists use to achieve the word count required when there's nothing else to say.

That and because emotions sell papers just as well as bad news. "Middle aged single bloke Bob Smith can only afford a curry and the pub once a week because of a pay cut" isn't quite as "outrageous" as "mum can't feed her kids", even though it doesn't actually say that.

 

[william]

Why does her height matter? How, after 34 years of service are they're citing her height as a reason to dismiss her! And she loses her appeal! Something not right here.

 

[Goldfish62]

Why does her height matter? How, after 34 years of service are they're citing her height as a reason to dismiss her! And she loses her appeal! Something not right here.

Post #3 explains the issue. Because of her height she needs to sit closer than usual to the steering wheel, but this means she can no longer see the nearside mirror.

 

[william]

Yes but surely they should make adjustments for her, especially given her long service. I mean being 5ft isn't exactly out of the ordinary. It's a bad direction to start sliding towards imo. Adjustments could even involve a single route/ service/bus. Smacks of lower management mindset of 'It's only one person, I can't be bothered'. I hope the rot sets in.

 

[PG]

Post #3 explains the issue. Because of her height she needs to sit closer than usual to the steering wheel, but this means she can no longer see the nearside mirror.

To my mind it is purely down to the introduction of covid screens that has resulted in this unfortunate situation.

The company has sought to protect the health of its drivers by fitting the screens. Given the hurry that they had to for them, it is entirely possible that the best type of screen wasn't fitted.

So I'd hope instead of the current situation could all parties see (literally!) if the screens can be modified so as to both protect all drivers while affording them clear sightlines of the nearside mirror.

 

[Darklord8899]

12 inch high platform driving boots for them... problem solved....no?

 

[johncrossley]

Do bus companies generally have high limits for new entrants?

 

[william]

12 inch high platform driving boots for them... problem solved....no?

Worked for Shorty. But then he did end up jumping out of a pilotless plane in a dingy.

 

[Geordie driver]

Do bus companies generally have high limits for new entrants?

Anyone over about 6'4" might find the cab a bit of a squish, I don't recall a minimum height but then we didn't have attack/spit/covid screens blocking our view.

We had a couple off massively overweight drivers who snapped the seat mount, they introduced a weight limit for new starters after that. 15 stone I think, but it didn't last.

Being short may not be a protected characteristic but sex is and women are on average shorter than men. 5 ft tall is not especially short in this context and I hope this woman wins her case eventually.

 

[Busaholic]

Anyone over about 6'4" might find the cab a bit of a squish, I don't recall a minimum height but then we didn't have attack/spit/covid screens blocking our view.

We had a couple off massively overweight drivers who snapped the seat mount, they introduced a weight limit for new starters after that. 15 stone I think, but it didn't last.

Being short may not be a protected characteristic but sex is and women are on average shorter than men. 5 ft tall is not especially short in this context and I hope this woman wins her case eventually.

I can recall one very tall bus driver from my youth. I always used to groan inwardly if he was driving my bus to or from school because, despite him being relatively young, he was so slow, even though he only had to drive. Often the next bus on the route would catch up and overtake. I never saw another London bus driver, in those days of half cabs, so tall, and I wonder if it caused problems.

As for the subject of this thread, she obviously got her PSV licence, found employment and must have been a satisfactory employee. Assuming she hasn't shrunk more than the average person does gradually over time, it's hardly her fault if her working conditions suddenly change to the extent of precluding her from doing her job. As you say, I hope justice prevails and she wins her case, though that may not get her the job back, unfortunately.

 

[Simon75]

For the sake of one hour a day, I do think this is rather unfair, especially if the employee has offered to be flexible in the type of work that she does. I wonder if it's because she has been there for so long and is presumably on 'legacy' terms on conditions that they're trying to get rid of her. With 34 years service, would she have started out with GM Buses?

Yes it would have been GM Buses.
Remember Go North West had that strike over changes in " legacy " terms and conditions

 

[scosutsut]

Reinstated on final appeal. Both the company and the union claim they haven't backed down so are claiming the victory, as ever, the truth is probably somewhere in between:

Rochdale bus driver reinstated after height issue resolved

Tracey Scholes, who is 5ft, lost her job after a bus mirror redesign left her with a "blind spot".

www.bbc.co.uk

A woman who lost her job after a bus redesign left her unable to drive safely due to her height has been reinstated, the bus operator has said.

Tracey Scholes, who is 5ft (1.52m), said Go North West's changes meant she could no longer "reach the pedals to drive" without a blind spot appearing.

The 57-year-old, who has been a bus driver for 34 years, made a final appeal for her job on 11 January.
The bus firm said it was "glad" she had accepted a deal to drive other buses.

More than 25,000 people signed a petition calling for Mrs Scholes to be reinstated and a crowd of supporters gathered outside the Queens Road bus depot in Cheetham Hill, Manchester, where the appeal hearing took place.

The widow told BBC North West Tonight before the hearing: "I've never had a problem driving the vehicles in 34 years, but they've moved one of the mirrors on certain vehicles... and it's caused a blind spot for me."

Scott Maynard, the firm's group HR director, said in a statement the company was "pleased" the "valued and long serving driver" was to stay with Go North West "after she decided to accept an offer to drive different buses as per a proposal made in September".

He said Mrs Scholes will start earlier to allow her to pick up a bus with wing mirrors of her preference and that her weekly hours and rate of pay will be unchanged.

"We have said from the start that we wanted to keep Tracey and we are glad that she has changed her mind and decided to stay," he said.

He added that the company "operates no height restrictions on recruitment, and has multiple drivers of the same height, or below, as Tracey".

"It is categorically untrue that we would, or could, have threatened anybody with dismissal on grounds of height."
The Unite union, which supported Mrs Scholes in the appeal, said it was a "great victory and a testimony to Tracey's spirit".

It has previously said Mrs Scholes's appointment as the first woman at the depot "broke the mould for women in the bus industry" and she had subsequently given more than three decades of "unblemished" service.

 

[Wolfie]

Irritatingly, height is not a protected characteristic.

If something is biased against shorter people it is highly likely to be indirectly discriminatory against women.

 

[Busaholic]

Reinstated on final appeal. Both the company and the union claim they haven't backed down so are claiming the victory, as ever, the truth is probably somewhere in between:

Rochdale bus driver reinstated after height issue resolved

Tracey Scholes, who is 5ft, lost her job after a bus mirror redesign left her with a "blind spot".

www.bbc.co.uk

Right decision, shame it had to get to this. Go-Ahead seem to be getting an awful lot wrong these days, admittedly mostly on the railway side.

 

[Cesarcollie]

Right decision, shame it had to get to this. Go-Ahead seem to be getting an awful lot wrong these days, admittedly mostly on the railway side.

But we don’t know the full story…..

 

[Goldfish62]

But we don’t know the full story…..

What we do know is that she's now keeping her pay and hours and will drive specific buses.

That could have been agreed before. There's no doubt in my mind that union and public pressure has forced the company's hand.

 

[XAM2175]

Yes, the earlier stories suggested (as far as I could tell) that the company had offered to move her to a different fleet - but with fewer hours and thus a lower wage. In my mind that wasn't sufficient; they should have offered the same hours, or simply just topped up her pay.

It is disappointing that it took going this far.

 

[M803UYA]

Yes, the earlier stories suggested (as far as I could tell) that the company had offered to move her to a different fleet - but with fewer hours and thus a lower wage. In my mind that wasn't sufficient; they should have offered the same hours, or simply just topped up her pay.

It is disappointing that it took going this far.

It's a poor reflection on the standard of management at the company if they continually have disputes like this. I talk from experience here of diffusing militant trade union officials, their primary concern is being included and talked to. That takes management time up, but I've always found it worthwhile to foster that relationship and build bridges.

 

[Busaholic]

It's a poor reflection on the standard of management at the company if they continually have disputes like this. I talk from experience here of diffusing militant trade union officials, their primary concern is being included and talked to. That takes management time up, but I've always found it worthwhile to foster that relationship and build bridges.

Totally agree.

 

[philthetube]

I can recall one very tall bus driver from my youth. I always used to groan inwardly if he was driving my bus to or from school because, despite him being relatively young, he was so slow, even though he only had to drive. Often the next bus on the route would catch up and overtake. I never saw another London bus driver, in those days of half cabs, so tall, and I wonder if it caused problems.

Bit off topic but in the days of crew operation most driver were conductors first and being a 6'4" conductor was not easy.