Obesity discrimination risk

Employers routinely discriminate against obese workers and are unaware of obesity and disability-related laws, research by a law firm has found.

In a survey of 1,000 employers with hiring responsibilities, by Crossland Employment Solicitors, nearly half were less inclined to recruit an obese applicant at interview. Employers described obese applicants as “lazy” and believed they would be unable to do the job.

Some 61% expressed concern about the potential cost of accommodating overweight staff, while 63% feared being taken to court on grounds of discrimination if they didn’t meet the obese person’s needs.

Employers also showed a lack of awareness of the law—more than half were unaware that obese applicants who tell them about their long term conditions at interview can then try to claim disability discrimination if they are not hired on the basis of their obesity.

The European Court of Justice (ECJ) recently ruled that obesity may be a disability if it causes a long-term impairment, in the case of Karsten Kaltoft v Kommunernes Landsforerning C-354/13.

Beverley Sunderland, managing director at Crossland, says: “Our research shows just how less inclined employers are to recruit obese applicants following the case of Mr Kaltoft, the overweight childminder in Denmark and the ECJ ruling.

“It also demonstrates that organisations do need to be more careful at every stage of recruitment and retention of employees, as discrimination law warns us against making ‘stereotypical assumptions’ and doing so can lead to grievances and possible complaints of constructive dismissal.”