Weight Bias Claims Surfacing

Increased attention is being given to the issue of whether or not weight (and to some extent, other physical characteristics such as height and appearance) are protected characteristics under existing federal antidiscrimination laws. In the Americans with Disabilities Act's ("ADA") implementing regulations, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") states that "except in rare circumstances, obesity is not considered a disabling impairment." 29 C.F.R. § 1630.16. Its Compliance Manual does the same with respect to "normal deviations" in weight. However, "severe obesity," which is defined as "100 percent over the norm," is "clearly an impairment," although whether it rises to the level of a disability is determined by the "substantial limitation" test. Of course, those who are morbidly obese may have underlying or related disorders which do qualify as impairments.