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Obesity Disability Discrimination Corporate Counsel

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Obesity as a Disability Under the Americans With Disabilities Act

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects most job applicants and employees from discrimination, harassment, or retaliation based on disability. While employers are likely familiar with many of the physical and...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Ninth Circuit Finds Obesity a Protected Disability Under State Law

In recent years, a number of federal courts have drawn differing conclusions with regard to whether obesity is a protected disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. While some courts have reached this conclusion,...more

Miles & Stockbridge P.C.

Seventh Circuit Rules the ADA Does Not Protect Future Disabilities

Miles & Stockbridge P.C. on

On October 29, 2019, the Seventh Circuit held that Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company (“BNSF”) did not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”) by refusing to hire a job applicant due to his obesity. The...more

Fisher Phillips

Obesity: A New Protected Class In Washington

Fisher Phillips on

The Washington Supreme Court held for the first time yesterday that obesity is a protected class under state anti-discrimination law (Taylor v. Burlington Northern Railroad Holdings, Inc.). This decision runs counter to...more

FordHarrison

Seventh Circuit Holds Obesity is not ADA Impairment Absent Underlying Physiological Cause

FordHarrison on

On June 12, 2019, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued its ruling in the case of Richardson v. Chicago Transit Authority, which was the appeal of a dismissal of the case after the lower court found that obesity is not...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Is Being Overweight an Impairment?

Foley & Lardner LLP on

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 40 percent of U.S. adults are obese. The CDC uses the Body Mass Index (BMI) as the benchmark for obesity. BMI is a calculation based on height,...more

Blank Rome LLP

Too Fat to Work Here?—Not So Fast

Blank Rome LLP on

A decision this week from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has further fueled the debate over whether obesity is a protected impairment under federal and state law....more

Littler

Obesity Alone as a Disability? Slim Chance, Says Eighth Circuit

Littler on

A memorable scene from the dark comedy “In Bruges” features a clash between a disgraced Irish assassin, played by Colin Farrell, and three portly American tourists after Farrell’s character warns them not to climb the narrow...more

Proskauer - Law and the Workplace

Eighth Circuit Holds That Obesity That Is Not Caused By an Underlying Physiological Condition Is Not a Covered “Impairment” Under...

In Morriss v. BNSF Railway Company, the Eighth Circuit recently held that obesity that is not caused by an underlying physiological condition is not a covered “impairment” for purposes of the Americans with Disabilities Act...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

What Tips the Scale? Obesity as a Perceived Disability Under the ADA

Employers often call with questions about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as they navigate when and how to make reasonable accommodations for employees with known disabilities. Most are generally familiar with the...more

Mintz - Employment, Labor & Benefits...

Something is Rotten at the Pork Roll Company … and it’s not the Pork Rolls: Flatulent Employee (and his Wife) Bring Claims for...

Is passing gas now protected by our anti-discrimination laws? Over the past several years, we have written extensively about the possibility of obesity discrimination lawsuits becoming the next wave of disability...more

Foley & Lardner LLP

Obesity, Mere Physical Characteristic or Disability Protected Under Law?

Foley & Lardner LLP on

It is no secret that the U.S. has a weight problem. We all hear the news about how American waistlines continue to expand, the various theories behind what is causing the trend and endless advice to reverse it. The American...more

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