Taking the Pulse, A Health Care and Life Sciences Video Podcast | Episode 179: Obesity Effects on the Workforce & Economy with Tim Dall, Healthcare Economist
Employment Law Now: Volume 3 Episode 45- Part 1 of 2 Back From The Summer Hiatus
Polsinelli Podcast - What Employers Need to Know About Obesity in the Workplace
Most employers in Texas are likely aware that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act (TCHRA), which is similar to the ADA, protect most job applicants and employees from...more
In recent years, federal courts have increasingly split over whether obesity in and of itself is a qualifying medical condition under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The EEOC and some courts have concluded that obesity...more
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
The Seventh Circuit joins the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Circuits in holding that such a refusal would not violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. In Shell v. Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Company, No. 19-1030, the...more
In a departure from the federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other state anti-discrimination laws, the Washington Supreme Court (7-2) recently ruled that obesity “always” qualifies as an impairment under the...more
There is debate among employers as to whether or not being morbidly obese is considered an ADA-covered disability. Do you have to accommodate limitations that may be caused by obesity by treating it as a disability?...more
The state of Washington has weighed in on the debate as to whether obesity is a disability under disability discrimination laws. In Taylor v. Burlington Northern Railroad Holdings Inc., a case that wound its way through the...more
On June 12, 2019, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals held in Richardson v. Chicago Transit Authority that extreme obesity only qualifies as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) if it was caused by an...more
Complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act poses difficult challenges for employers, and one of the toughest issues to come along in recent years is how to deal with obese employees. Thanks to a new decision by the...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit ruled this week that severe obesity is not a "disability" within the meaning of the Americans with Disabilities Act unless it is caused by a physiological disorder....more
Earlier this month, a three-judge panel for the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey affirmed a 2018 trial court decision granting summary judgment against a self-described obese former bus driver for...more
We know that the ADAAA (Amendments Act of 2008) substantially altered the landscape for review of claims asserting a disability. But are employees still required to show some sort of disorder or impairment to state a claim?...more
On Sept. 17, 2018, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals certified to the Washington Supreme Court the question of whether obesity qualifies as an “impairment” and thus a “disability” under the state’s anti-discrimination law....more
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
I recently did a blog about obesity as a disability under the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act. I concluded that the condition of obesity did not automatically constitute a disability although courts could find that an employer...more
In December 2017, the California Court of Appeal published a decision confirming obesity is a protected disability in California if it has a physiological cause. In Cornell v. Berkeley Tennis Club, 18 Cal. App. 5th 908...more
Two recent decisions regarding disability discrimination have outlined an employer’s responsibilities when dealing with a potential claim of disability and need for accommodation. These decisions offer reminders for...more
Obesity does not meet the definition of a “disability” under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for either the discrimination or “regarded as” provisions of the statute, a panel of the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals...more
Since the Americans with Disabilities Act was adopted, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has considered morbid obesity to fall within the definition of a protected disability. Earlier this month, the Eighth Circuit...more
The ADA prohibits discrimination based upon actual or perceived medical disabilities and requires employers to accommodate employees with disabilities subject to certain exceptions. The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 effectively...more
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
In June of last year, we pondered whether obesity is a mere physical characteristic or a disability protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as now amended by the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act...more
Question: We have a large meat processing facility in Northern Minnesota. We were recently hiring for one of our positions in the plant requiring work with large mechanical equipment. Because we consider this position to be...more
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
We are all familiar with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA prohibits discrimination based upon actual or perceived medical disabilities, and the ADA requires employers to accommodate employees with disabilities...more