This library job wasn’t good for his circulation.
A 6-foot-2, 360-pound New York Public Library employee claims he’s been “traumatized” by being forced to work at a desk that is too small — and wants $4.6 million to make up for it.
William Martin’s page-turning tale began in October 2021 when he was told to work at the first-floor service desk at the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library on Fifth Avenue in Midtown.
The welcome desk features a staggered countertop with a roughly 12-inch drop, and was “crampy,” the library information assistant groused in a Brooklyn Federal Court lawsuit.
“All I sought was just a service desk with the appropriate accommodation given my physical attributes,” he said in the legal filing accusing his superiors of discrimination and harassment.
His union eventually intervened, helping Martin get assigned to different service desks within the library.
But nearly two years later, he found himself in a bind again.
In June 2023 a new assistant director, was allegedly not on the same page as Martin, ordering him back to work at the cramped first-floor desk, according to court documents.
Things only got worse after he complained and got a lawyer involved.
The director allegedly “dramatically increased” how often she assigned Martin to the small desk, which was “detrimental to his health and safety,” Martin said in the legal filing. It was the director’s “way to bully William and intimidate him, showing him ‘who is the boss.’”
A few months later, Martin was “falsely accused” of sleeping on the job, and later suspended — prompting him to ask for a transfer and seek medical leave for anxiety and depression, the suit claims.
Martin, who once ran a sports blog called “300lbsofsportsknowledge,” claims his “mental health has been damaged to such extent that . . . he would tremble just at the thought of going back to work,” he said in the lawsuit.Martin is asking a judge to force the library to approve a leave, along with a hefty sum.
The case is “without merit,” a spokesperson for the New York Public Library said, adding, “We take employee accommodations and concerns with utmost seriousness, and are dedicated to treating our staff across the Library with fairness and respect.”
