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Employers in Europe may soon have a duty to create reserved car parking spaces for obese staff, or adjust the office furniture for them as BBC reports that the European Court of Justice is considering a test case of a male nanny who says he was fired for being too fat - a ruling that could oblige employers to treat obesity as a disability. Employment expert Audrey Williams says the judges would have to decide "whether obesity itself should trigger preferential rights, or should only impact where an individual, due to obesity, has other recognized medical issues. Employers would have a duty to make reasonable adjustments to the workplace or working arrangements," says Williams. "This might include a review of where the employee is located and their seating arrangements, or even preferential access to car parking."
The US Equal Opportunity Commission already defines obesity as being a disability, under the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act. In a recent case involving morbid obesity, a Texan employee who weighed more than 680 pounds received $55,000 in compensation for being dismissed. In October 2009, the man was told to report to human resources where officials told him the company had reached the conclusion he could no longer "perform his job duties because of his weight and he was therefore terminated," the suit said. Ronald Kratz, who had gotten two promotions and high performance ratings over his 16-year-career, insists his weight did not interfere with his ability to perform his job duties as a parts sorter. Kratz, who lost over three hundred pounds since he was fired, has not been able to find another job despite sending out numerous applications, and his unemployment benefits have run out. "It has been really hard on the family."
(Score: 3, Interesting) by iwoloschin on Monday June 16 2014, @12:57AM
Ok, so sure, someone who is morbidly obese needs help. I get that. But why are we waiting until someone is morbidly obese to start treating them as disabled person? Why not start when they're mildly obese, or even just a little overweight, and use rewards to promote healthy behavior, in order to prevent someone from becoming morbidly obese in the first place? Sure, there's some folks with acute medical conditions that this won't help, but I suspect (based on personal experience) that most overweight/obese folks, given the correct persuasion and encouragement, would be happy to shed the weight, and not be that fatty who gets the close parking spot.
Ironically, you'd think that with America's employer provided health care system most companies would be serious about having their employees lead a healthy lifestyle by now. I'm a little disappointed in capitalism right now.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by c0lo on Monday June 16 2014, @01:27AM
What does it mean "slight overweight" [wikipedia.org]? (hint: forget BMI [wikipedia.org])
"Cost of prevention" vs "cost of mitigation" vs "the effectiveness risk management" (i.e. if the impact is small but the cost of managing the risk is high, better accept the risk).
Want an example? Consider NSA/CIA/DoD monetary budget - add to this the erosion of individual rights.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 1) by q.kontinuum on Monday June 16 2014, @08:00AM
How about body fat percentage? (Yes, I know the measurement is not 100% accurate, but should be good enough to give some guideline.)
Registered IRC nick on chat.soylentnews.org: qkontinuum
(Score: 3, Interesting) by zsau on Monday June 16 2014, @04:27AM
Spend money on bike infrastructure. If it's obvious how you can safely get around on a bike without being splattered by cars, more people will do it. If they get around on a bike (just for some of their trips), they will be getting moderate intensity exercise. It worked in the Netherlands, it can work anywhere.