Source: http://www.epspros.com/news-resources/whitepapers/2013-prior/weight-discrimination-in-workplace.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 03:50:22+00:00

Document:
Statistics reflect that Americans are continuing to gain weight. According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, the past 20 years have brought a dramatic increase in obesity, which is typically defined by the medical community to mean greater than 30 percent body fat for women and more than 25 percent body fat for men.2 “Morbid obesity” occurs when a person is 50-100 percent or 100 pounds above his or her ideal body weight or has more than 39 percent body fat.3 To put it a different way, you are overweight if your Body Mass Index (BMI) exceeds 26, obese if it exceeds 30, and morbidly obese if it exceeds 40.4 Medical problems commonly associated with obesity include diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, certain cancers, depression, breathing difficulties during sleep, and osteoarthritis.5 Employers foresee (rightly or wrongly) and worry about corresponding increases in insurance premiums, absences, requests for accommodations, and costs of health care.
What protections do Americans have against weight discrimination in the workplace? May employers legitimately make employment decisions based on a person’s weight, assuming that maintaining a certain weight is not a bona fide occupational qualification? What responsibility do employers have to provide a workplace free of weight-based discrimination and harassment?
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination against otherwise qualified individuals with handicaps, solely on the basis of those handicaps, in any program which receives federal assistance. The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA)14 extends the protection against disability discrimination to the private sector.
The ADA requires that employers provide a reasonable accommodation in the workplace to qualified individuals with a disability.15 An individual with a disability under the ADA has: “(A) a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual; (B) a record of such an impairment; or (C) [is] regarded as having such an impairment.”16 In other words, to enjoy the protections of the ADA, an employee must demonstrate that s/he has a current disability, had a disability in the past, or is regarded by an employer as having a disability.
A. Until The 2008 ADA Amendments, Obesity Was Generally NOT A Disability Covered By The ADA, While Morbid Obesity Was.
In the past, being overweight, or even obese, generally was not considered a disability. The ADA defines “disability” as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. Even if an obese person had difficulty performing the normal daily functions of living and working, s/he was not considered disabled under the ADA unless the obesity “substantially limited” a major life activity.17 The EEOC’s current ADA regulations clearly state that, absent “exceptional” circumstances, obesity does not meet the definition of a disability under the ADA.18 Thus, before the ADA was amended in 2008, an obese individual needed to show that his or her obesity was the result of a physiological impairment in order to receive ADA protection.
On Sept. 25, 2008, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) was enacted. The ADAAA expressly overturns several landmark Supreme Court decisions that narrowly interpreted the definition of “disability” and significantly expands the protections afforded to disabled individuals. Though we are awaiting EEOC guidance and case law interpreting the statute, the ADAAA, effective Jan. 1, 2009, redefines disability so that it will likely include obesity-related health conditions and perhaps even obesity itself as a protected disability. On June 17, 2009, the EEOC voted to approve a proposed Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to conform its ADA regulations to the Amendments. The proposed Notice was then sent for comment by other federal agencies pursuant to Executive Order 12067 and for approval by the Office of Management and Budget. When this process is completed, the Commission will publish its Notice for Public Comment. It is likely that obesity will become a protected disability under the EEOC’s regulations, requiring employers to reasonably accommodate the condition.
Also note that, whether or not an employee enjoys ADA protection because of his or her weight, that person may suffer from serious health conditions that would nonetheless bring them within the ADA. For example, as noted, obese people often suffer from health problems including diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, stroke, cancer, depression, and osteoarthritis.24 Indeed, the EEOC has already noted in its guidance on the definition of disability under the ADA that “a person with obesity may have an underlying or resultant physiological disorder, such as hypertension or a thyroid disorder, [which] is an impairment.”25 Expect such protections to be expanded under the EEOC’s interpretative guidance of the ADAAA.
Ensure that participation in proactive wellness programs is voluntary and private.
1 Look for an upcoming EPS, Inc. newsletter exploring the broader issue of “lifestyle” discrimination.
4 American Obesity Society, 2003.
6 International Journal of Obesity (March 4, 2008).
10 Wellness programs might also involve stocking the cafeteria and/or vending machines with healthy foods, sponsoring health screenings, and sponsoring company sports teams.
11 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq.
12 See, e.g., Frank v. United Airlines, Inc., 216 F.3d 845 (9th Cir. 2000).
13 29 U.S.C. § 706.
14 42 U.S.C. § 12101.
15 The analysis in this article also applies to the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which covers federal employees, federal contractors, and recipients of federal funding.
16 42 U.S.C. § 12102(2).
17 See Hazeldine v. Beverage Media, Inc., 954 F. Supp. 697 (S.D.N.Y. 1997) (employee’s weight did not limit major life activity).
18 29 C.F.R. §1630.2(j); see Andrews v. Ohio, 104 F.3d 803 (6th Cir. 1997); Francis v. City of Meriden, 129 F.3d 281 (2d Cir. 1997); Clemons v. The Big Ten Conference, No. 96 C 0124, 1997 WL 89227 (N.D. Ill. 1997) (college football official’s weight, which prevented the accomplishment of job functions, was not a disability where it did not interfere with his ability to do other jobs).
19 EEOC Compliance Manual Section 902: Definition of the Term Disability (Mar. 1995).
21 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(l).
23 See, e.g., Clemons, No. 96 C 0124, 1997 WL 89227 (employer could “legitimately expect that its officials maintain themselves in a physical condition such that they are able to move down the field with the football players”).
25 EEOC Compliance Manual Section 902: Definition of the Term Disability (Mar. 1995) (citing 29 C.F.R. § 1630.2(h)).
26 Mich. Comp. Laws Ann. § 37.2102 (1985 & Supp. 1993).
27 Other states, like Massachusetts, have introduced bills that would amend the local discrimination law to include height and weight, but such efforts have thus far been unsuccessful.
28 D.C. Code Ann. § 1-2501 (1987 & Supp. 1993).
29 San Fran. Admin. Code Chapters 12A, 12B, & 12C; San Fran. Municipal/Police Code Art. 33. SANTA CRUZ MUNICIPAL CODE, CHAPTER 9.83.
30 See, e.g. Gimello v. Agency Rent-A-Car Systems, Inc., 594 A.2d 264 (NJ Super. A.D. 1991).

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