Clarifying the legality of discrimination

[Guest guest]

My point is that it is LEGAL to discriminate against a person of size in

> employment situations.

Well that isn't entirely true...if your morbid obesity is found to be a

" physical impairment which substantially limits major life activities " it

can be found to be a physical disability subject to the Americans With

Disabilities Act...there are also state laws which are more lenient (they

cannot be more stringent)....while disability discrimination has been

carefully reduced by the US Supreme Court in several decisions over the past

2 years, to say unilaterally that it is " legal " would simply be wrong. The

correct answer, as in most situations, is " it depends... " It is not clear

cut and the circumstances for person " A " with morbid obesity may qualify for

legal protection while the equally compelling circumstances for person " B "

may not....hope that clarifies things....don't want this erroneous thread of

information to get out of hand....however the bottom line remains the same

and that is, legislative action has generally been helpful (at least in

bariatric surgery matters where specific legislation exists - land,

Virginia, Georgia and Indiana) for patients...only Michigan protects people

from general employment discrimination based on weight.

Regards,

Walter Lindstrom, Jr., Esquire

Obesity Law & Advocacy Center

www.obesitylaw.com

Now: Legislative issues - my point was.../is....

> Sorry, guess I'm not very good at putting across a political point as some

> other topics...

>

> My point is that it is LEGAL to discriminate against a person of size in

> employment situations.

>

> Not that it has or hasn't happened but that it is legal -- an employer can

> " say " s/he doesn't get the job because s/he is too big... not the " image "

we

> want presented at the front door... Only 4 states have " laws " on the books

> that protect equal employment for people of size -- that's why I brought

it

> up as a " legislative issue " is because it is legal for an employer to tell

> me, " You didn't get the job because of your size... " and I have no grounds

> to do anything about it based on current laws in most states.

>

> hugz,

> ~denise

>

> (ps: If y'all want me to " look up " and " backup " which 4 states and so

on --

> I would search the archives here on the grads list where this topic came

up

> about a year ago to find the " back-up " -- but... I'm not going to do that,

> my dad was taken to the ICU last night and I just don't have the time

right

> now... sorry... search the archives...)

>

>

>

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