Club backs down over ban on fat women

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Title – Club backs down over ban on fat women
Source – The Times
Date – 30th July 2008

Wow! I spend a great deal of time defending the Licensed Retail Sector and Security Industry in this blog and then every so often I am proved so wrong…

I have to say; I have never been to Jersey and I’m not sure exactly how things are done there.

Then again this is not a Jersey problem; sadly discrimination by door staff happens across the country. Partly this is brought on by pressure from managers and colleagues using the excuse of ‘old habits dying hard’ by those that are out of touch with the 21st century.

Door supervisors have to use their judgement every night of the week, they have to use their experience and instincts to protect their customers, colleagues and themselves from harm in deciding who they let in and who they refuse entry to. They have to protect the integrity of the premises they are working in from vandals, drug dealers, drunks and others who may endanger the premises licence and the livelihood of those working there. With this level of responsibility they will get it wrong every so often; but more often than not they get it right and the door supervisor community as a whole has progressed leaps and bounds in recent years, thanks to better training and the SIA licensing process (even with all its faults and excessively high costs).

There are however those who still let the community as a whole down and the press love to jump on a bandwagon. How often do you read the stories in the paper of the door supervisor who protected his/her customers from assault, from a knife attack or from their own irresponsible behaviour (excess alcohol, drug abuse and the many other self-inflicted injuries that occur on a nightly basis)?

Whoever was responsible for this farce in Jersey should really be held to account, because they do a disservice to everyone else working in the industry. Did they never attend training where the consequences of discrimination were discussed; do they understand the difference between the legal obligation to turn away a drunk or aggressive person and their duty to grant equal rights of entry and not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, disability, sex, sexual preference, hairstyle, shoe size, nationality and yes…. Size!

Every experienced door supervisor knows they have to make judgement calls in order to make safe the premises they have responsibility for, but they must use their best judgement and be prepared to back that up with a solid and proactive argument when asked to do so. Those that can’t, will find themselves in court and paying compensation for discrimination. If this case goes no further it will be through luck rather than good judgement, something that was clearly lacking. The manager may claim he ‘was protecting his business’, if that is his idea of protection, let’s hope the few customers he has left are able to protect themselves.

Beyond The Blue run the National Certificate for Door Supervisors (NCDS) for those wishing to work as Door Supervisors in the Licensed Retail Sector. We also specialise in Conflict Management & Resolution Courses directed at people working in environments where Workplace Violence occurs; we provide simple solutions to reduce violence and aggression in the workplace.

Please visit our website please visit at www.btbl.co.uk