Posts Tagged ‘ Martin Kessman ’

White Castle 290 lb Craver Files Lawsuit to Sit

September 13th, 2011. By AbiK

Martin Kessman is, no doubt, a Craver—as in White Castle Craver. The type of guy for whom fast food is about the total all-in experience. So I envision his trips to White Castle completely titillate the senses—from inhaling the grease-laden air that greets him in the parking lot—sometimes with a hint of onion—to squinting at the back-lit menu behind the counter, while the blur of White Castle job agents (that’s what they’re called) provides a reassuring “we’re on it” to affirm his order will be up momentarily. Yes, it’s Martin Kessman’s zone. Or was. Until something shook the very core of his comfort at White Castle, and, he sued.

So now there’s this White Castle Lawsuit.

Here’s the deal. Martin Kessman likes White Castle burgers. In fact, it’s reported that he likes the “Sack Meal 2” (that oughta getcha salivatin’—Sliders in a Sack! That’s Sack Meal 2 shown above, coming in at over 1,000 calories.). But Kessman likes them not in a car, or a plane or a train—but INSIDE White Castle. And Kessman’s a big guy. He’s 290 pounds big. He needs a 290 pound-worthy place to sit and enjoy his Sack of a meal. And, well, the chairs at White Castle—at least the one he frequents in upstate New York—are benches that are bolted to the floor. You can’t pull them out to adjust them to your girth, which Kessman needs to do.

You can’t move the tables either—they’re also bolted down—and Kessman claims to have injured his knee by banging it into the steel support legs in an attempt to sit comfortably. See, Kessman claims the distance between the bolted down chairs and tables are discriminatory to fat people—he can’t fit in without discomfort or apparently knee injury.

So none of this sits well (forgive the pun) with Kessman. And the fact that there aren’t moveable chairs at White Castle is certainly not due to any lack of effort on his part. He’s complained to White Castle. He’s written to corporate headquarters about it. And as the New York Post reported, White Castle even responded by saying that they would be changing the seating—and they even included specs for Kessman to see. Oh, and they sent him some coupons for some burgers. That was over two years ago.

But you know how these corporate-driven changes go…

So Kessman hasn’t witnessed the bolted-down benches being swapped out for four-legged slider chairs (couldn’t resist) and he’s now getting really serious about this whole thing. So the civil liberties lawsuit has been filed. Kessman’s suing for new (presumably more spacious) White Castle chairs, and unspecified damages.

I don’t know how many people out there have really taken affront to White Castle’s seating set-up, but I’m guessing most folks who frequent the fast-food chain are less concerned about comfortable seating and more concerned about downing some sliders—somewhere else. I’m not thinking—in the scheme of things—that this really warrants legal action.

Oh but wait, if this settles—or actually goes to court—I may be able to start a list of all the places I go where things just aren’t made to accommodate tall people, which I am. And guess what? My legs—my knees—slam into practically everything wherever I’m seated! So maybe thanks are in order for Martin Kessman—after all, I can’t help that I’m tall any more than Martin Kessman can help that he’s 290 pounds, right? 😉

Tags: ADA, Civil Liberties, Discrimination, Martin Kessman, White Castle
Posted in Class Action, Discrimination, Emerging Issues | 7 Comments »