Tag Archives: UK

UK Pre-Order George Harrison Living in the Material World

Now available for US and Canadian pre-order – release date May 1, 2012

Living in the Material World 150x150 UK Pre Order George Harrison Living in the Material World photo

Living in the Material World

Three versions of documentary will release on October 10, 2011 but only in UK and EU, pity!

Beatles and George Harrison fans will able to get three versions of Martin Scorsese’s documentary: DVD, Blu-Ray and Deluxe Edition Blu-Ray. Unless your player is all-regions you’re out of luck.

For North American fans, that source is not going to work since both the DVD and Blu-Ray formats are restricted to the UK, Europe, the ,Middle East and South Africa. The Blu-Ray disk will also play in Greenland, French territories, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.  Continue reading →

Stock traders and strippers

Why panic spreads through the stock market

Zanzibar club web Stock traders and strippers photo

Lunch at the strip club

The sleep deprived, drug and adrenalin fueled stock market is about to turn from greed to fear over the Greek and EU debt crisis. Things could get ugly very quickly. Yesterday the Dow Jones dropped 900 points before recovering.

When I was living in Toronto in the 1990s, the Financial Post profiled stock brokers and traders during the dot.com boom. The report said many of them used drugs like cocaine to keep up their energy level.

Stock market types from Bay Street would descend on the Zanzibar strip club just up the street from the stock exchange. Lunch with naked dancers got their adrenalin pumped up to make it through the afternoon.

Stock traders also worked long exhausting hours, many drinking their evenings away in bars searching for market rumors and relief from the stress.

Having met traders in Toronto, it made sense. They were a sleep deprived, nervous bunch constantly switching from greed to fear.  The story in the paper made sense and several brokers confirmed it was true.

The attention span of a stock broker or trader is today, this afternoon, now. Stocks are up stocks are down. Buy! Sell!

Continue reading →

Historic building no excuse for lack of accessibility

davidallen Historic building no excuse for lack of accessibility photo

David Allen, 18 denied access but vindicated in court

Bank of Scotland must pay damages and install wheelchair lift

with a story from the BBC
The Royal Bank of Scotland lost its appeal to a ruling that it must install a $320,000 lift in one of it’s 19th century branches in Sheffield.

David Allen, 18, had won his original complaint the bank, where he dealt for 8 years, did not accommodate his wheelchair. Not only could he not enter the bank, there were no facilities for lowered counters or door openers.

The bank argued unsuccessfully that Allen could use any one of three other branches. It also argued the expense of renovating the 19th century branch on Church Street was not reasonable.

Continue reading →

Scotland Yard bungled Nightstalker case

nightstalker sketch 416x450 Scotland Yard bungled Nightstalker case photo

Artists sketch of Nightstalker handed out by police

Jehovah’s Witness Delroy Grant identified twice but slipped through police fingers

with stories from Mirror.co.uk and News of the World

The case of the Nightstalker had Scotland Yard searching for 17 years looking for the man who raped, assaulted and robbed more than 100 seniors in and around London England.

Human error ten years ago let Grant continue his crime spree and religious ministry.

Scotland Yard is estimated to have spent $32 million US in hunting down the elusive Nightstalker.

Ten years ago a witness gave police Grant’s license number when a house was buglered in Orpington, Kent. The modus operandi was similar to the Nightstalker.

Continue reading →

University sites fail disabled

Some UK universities are failing to provide accessible accommodation or facilities to disabled students, an investigation has found

wheelchair student at university University sites fail disabled photo

BBC photo

With story from BBC

Editor – UPEI is not the only university that fails to accommodate the disabled. a UK study found similar stories

BBC Report

A report by the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign suggests one in 10 disabled students were not be able to live or eat on university sites. Continue reading →

Abercrombie & Fitch must pay US $15,000 to student with prosthetic arm dismissed for “looks”

Riam Dean 800 Abercrombie & Fitch must pay US $15,000 to student with prosthetic arm dismissed for looks photo

Disabled employee wins tribunal against Ambercrombie and Fitch

While finding stops short of disability discrimination, US clothing giant gets a black eye for treatment

Story from The Telegraph

A British employment tribunal has found Abercrombie and Fitch wrongfully dismissed Riam Dean, a student who was employed at the sexy Saville Row store then dismissed ostensibly because she didn’t fit the “look” of the store.

Riam Dean, although photogenic, has a prosthetic arm and contended she was dismissed because of her disability.

The tribunal awarded Dean about $15,000 US ($9,000 British pounds) for loss of employment, wrongful dismissal, harassment and hurt feelings. The tribunal stopped short of making the award for disability discrimination.

 

riam katelin dean1 Abercrombie & Fitch must pay US $15,000 to student with prosthetic arm dismissed for looks photo

Riam Dean awarded damages

Abercrombie and Fitch are developing a reputation for discrimination which should harm their sales.

They lost a $45 million lawsuit in the US on discrimination against minorities. Disability discrimination cases are still new and not well understood by the courts. The fact A&F has now lost cases on both sides of the Atlantic is turning heads in the retail fashion industry.

Abercrombie and Fitch proclaimed their innocence of the disability discrimination charges which carry heavier penalties both by law and bad public relations. Their lawyer issued a press release saying, “We are pleased that the Tribunal found that A&F did not discriminate against Ms. Dean on grounds of her disability and also found that A&F provided Ms. Dean with the accommodation she requested… We were happy to employ Ms. Dean, and we have always been, and will continue to be, supportive of the rights of disabled individuals.”

Dean was hired by Abercrombie and Fitch in 2008 but relegated to the back room where she would not be seen by customers. She was born with part of her arm missing and wears a prosthesis. While Dean offered to cover the prosthesis with a sweater, the employer’s treatment amounted to wrongful dismissal to Dean for not having the sexy A&F look.

The tribunal heard testimony that “on July 4, Maria Barbera, one of her managers, told her: “I can’t have you on the shop floor as you are breaking the look policy, immediately go to the stockroom.” Telegraph.co.uk

Dean, then a law student and now an articling student at law, filed a complaint with the central London employment tribunal.

Dean, speaking through her mother after the ruling, appears pleased with the results.

Miss Dean’s mother, May, said her daughter was “very, very pleased” at the outcome.

She said: “It has been a long legal battle against Abercrombie but all her efforts have finally paid off.” Telegraph.co.uk

Public Relations gaffe for Abercrombie and Fitch

Apart from the legal niceties of how they discriminated against Ms. Dean, it is obvious Abercrombie and Fitch did wrong her to the tune of $15,000.  Is it chic to discriminate?

“Marketing experts described the case as “one of the biggest gaffes” by a fashion retailer, and warned it could damage the brand.
Mark Borkowski, a leading brand and celebrity publicist, said: “This is probably one of the biggest gaffes by a fashion retailer – it is a disgrace and a PR nightmare.

“When people are confronted daily with pictures of heroic soldiers returning from Afghanistan with missing limbs, people will look at this case and think that Abercrombie & Fitch is incredibly shallow.

“It is potentially very damaging to them and they will need to work hard to restore some depth to their brand if they are to maintain their position in today’s competitive environment.”

“Jason Nisse, a PR executive from the firm Fishburn Hedges, added: “Abercrombie & Fitch should not confuse creating an aspirational image with being elitist.

“They need to immediately reassure customers that this is a brand for everyone, not for just some ideal that they have of what is a beautiful person, or they will rightly become the poster boys for everything that is wrong with the fashion industry.” Telegraph.co,uk

Related stories

Abercrombie and Fitch puts beautiful law student in the stock room
Young and sexy Abercrombie look discriminates against minorities