Now here's an amusing little story - or at least, it would be amusing if it weren't so pathetic. Political correctness, the victim culture and the litigious society all come together to create a tale that is both funny and deeply annoying at the same time ...
A James Bond wannabe who was turned down for a spy job has launched a £365,000 claim against MI5 - even though he is partly paralysed. Sajad Suleman, 35, admits he could not move his arms or legs when he applied to be a mobile surveillance officer.
But the former bus driver claims his disability and ethnicity ought to have made him the 'preferred candidate' out of the 1,092 who applied. He insists that the role - 'all about observing people or places either on foot or by vehicle' - could have been adapted so he could track targets by train, coach or taxi.
The service should have also paid for his health care, he said.
British-born Mr Suleman says MI5 and its recruiting agency TMP (UK) demonstrated 'reckless discrimination' in rejecting his application. He told a Central London Employment Tribunal: 'They have a duty to make reasonable adjustments for disabilities. They should have invited me for an interview, there is no doubt about that, and I should have got the job. I should have been the preferred candidate because they said they encouraged applications from people from ethnic minorities and with disabilities.'
Mr Suleman, a Muslim, said he wanted to protect Britain and to take a stand against extremists. He told the tribunal that his rare Guillain-Barri illness meant he was paralysed when he applied for the spy post in December 2007. He said: 'I was so ill that I couldn't move my hands, fingers, arms, elbows, shoulders, hips, knees feet and toes.'
The job description states applicants should be able to pass a 'physically and mentally demanding' course. Mr Suleman said: 'I knew the mobile surveillance officer job was active. They sent you out, sometimes to different countries to spy on someone. You are out on the front line.'
In papers lodged with the tribunal, MI5 and TMP say they rejected Mr Suleman's application immediately because they wanted someone who drove at least 5,000 miles a year - and he only drove half that distance. Mr Suleman claims this amounted to disability discrimination, saying: 'It is unreasonable to expect a disabled person to drive 5,000 miles a year.
The married father-of-three, from Wembley, North London, who receives housing, incapacity and child benefits, represented himself at the tribunal. He said the case was thrown out after medical evidence was not produced and he has now applied for a review. He is even appealing for help from Mohamed Fayed - on the grounds that the Harrods owner blamed spies for the deaths of Princess Diana and his son Dodi Fayed.
Mr Suleman said of MI5: 'They should have interviewed me to discuss how to adapt the job to cope with my disability, not rejected me because I can't do certain things. I could go on a train or a coach or in a taxi - use public transport instead of a car. I can't walk for miles but if you are asking me to observe or monitor someone in a city centre I could do that.'
MI5 and TMP dismissed the claim as 'misconceived' and said their rejection of Mr Suleman had nothing to do with his disability, race or trade union affiliation. The average cost of defending a claim has been estimated at £9,000.
The GOS says: And of course he didn't apply for the job in the first place just so he could sue when he didn't get it. No, no, perish the thought.
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