European Union law could shift to recognize extreme obesity as a disability, preventing employers from firing workers for the condition. The situation has come about based on a claim by Karsten Kaltoft, a Danish childminder who was dismissed by his local city council in 2010 after reportedly being unable to bend down to tie up shoelaces. The court heard that he weighed more than 160kg. The advocate general of the Euorpean court of justice (ECJ) in Luxembourg has issued a preliminary ruling following the claim.
The Guardian reported on the case:
The ECJ was asked to rule on whether EU law forbade discrimination on the grounds of obesity and whether obesity could be considered a disability. The advocate general, Niilo Jaaskinen, who advises the court, found that EU law did not prohibit discrimination specifically on the grounds of obesity, but concluded that very severe obesity – classified as a body mass index (BMI) of more than 40 – could be considered a disability.
Jaaskinen threw out the notion that a self-inflicted disability could be any less worthy of protection, saying: “The origin of the disability is irrelevant. [It] does not depend on whether the applicant has contributed causally to the acquisition of his disability through ‘self-inflicted’ excessive energy intake.”
Nicola Rabson, of Linklaters law firm, said, “This decision shifts the burden of keeping those who are severely obese in the workforce to employers, who must make adjustments to accommodate any special requirements arising from a person’s disability. Obesity, particularly severe obesity, can be a sensitive subject, so employers will have to tread carefully and not make assumptions about the needs of an obese worker.”
[Photo from flickr user Tony Alter]
