A person that struggles with CSS and performs better when two other developers are telling them what to do should probably just not be in this industry at all. This sounds like a nightmare for any competent developer.
If I have any kind of hard CSS problem, I ask someone else on the team to handle the styling. I could do it, but it would take me 3x as long and make me miserable.
No one else on the team can handle integration with federated identity systems the way I can, though. I know all the technologies and their security pitfalls that have to be coded around. No one else knows those things. Are they nightmares for competent developers and not people who should be in the industry?
I think "this industry" might be a bit broader than a bunch of CSS experts or even people competent in CSS. This seems to highlight his point rather than dismiss him as a developer. He's not a CSS guy so having people there with him gets his work done faster and helps him understand.
No one else on the team can handle integration with federated identity systems the way I can, though. I know all the technologies and their security pitfalls that have to be coded around. No one else knows those things. Are they nightmares for competent developers and not people who should be in the industry?