Journal Facts

Journal
Journal of Workplace Rights
ISSN
1938-4998 (print) 1938-5005 (electronic)
Volume
13
Issue
1
Date
1/1/2008

Article Facts

Title
Legality of Employer Control of Obesity
DOI
10.2190/WR.13.1.e
Authors
  • Marsha Katz
  • Helen Lavan
Pages
59-71
Online Date
04/07/2008

Article Links

Legality of Employer Control of Obesity

Marsha Katz
Helen Lavan

DOI: 10.2190/WR.13.1.e

Abstract

Currently, obese employees have limited legal protections as a class. However, under certain managerial and legal situations, obese employees and former employees have begun to prevail in lawsuits against employers seeking to take adverse employment actions based on their obesity. An analysis of a random sample of 80 cases was carried out to identify factors that increase an obese plaintiff's likelihood of success. An employee in the private sector, especially a nonprofessional employee, has a statistically significantly greater likelihood of winning than do others. Similarly, an unemployed individual or an individual filing suit under legislation other than state discrimination laws or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has a statistically greater chance of prevailing.

Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.