Contact Us
Categories
- FTC
- Emotional Support Animals
- Service Animals
- Employee Agreement
- Remote Work
- Federal Trade Commission
- LGBTQ
- Minors
- United States Department of Justice ("DOJ")
- Work from Home
- Arbitration
- Workplace health
- Intellectual Property
- Trade Secrets
- Corporate
- Center for Disease Control
- Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA")
- FFCRA
- Opioid Epidemic
- Occupational Safety and Health Administration (“OSHA”)
- COVID-19
- Families First Coronavirus Response Act
- H.R.6201
- Health Care Law
- IRS
- Paid Sick Leave
- Temporary Leave
- Treasury
- Coronavirus
- Worker Misclassification
- Labor Law
- Overtime
- Kentucky Unemployment Insurance Commission
- Sexual Harassment
- FMLA Retaliation
- Overtime Rule
- Employer Wellness Programs
- Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act ("GINA")
- Kentucky minimum wage
- Minimum wage
- Employee Benefits
- Employment Discrimination Laws
- Employment Non-Discrimination Act ("ENDA")
- ERISA
- Human Resource Department
- Independent Contractors
- Kentucky Civil Rights Act (“KCRA”)
- OSHA
- Overtime Pay
- Paid Time Off ("PTO")
- Sick Employees
- Wage and Hour
- ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (“ADAAA”)
- Adverse Employment Action
- Americans with Disabilities Act
- Bring Your Own Device
- BYOD
- Civil Rights
- Compliance
- Department of Labor ("DOL")
- EEOC
- Employee Handbook
- Employee Misconduct
- Employment Law
- Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
- Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”)
- National Labor Relations Act (NLRA)
- National Labor Relations Board (NLRB)
- Pregnancy Discrimination Act
- Social Media
- Social Media Policies
- Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act
- U.S. Department of Labor
- U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”)
- Uncategorized
- Union
- Volunteer
- Young v. UPS
- Amazon
- Department of Health and Human Services
- Federal contractors
- Kentucky Labor Cabinet’s Occupational Safety and Health Program (KOSH)
- Micro-unit
- Portal-to-Portal Act of 1947
- Security Checks
- Security Screening
- Specialty Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center of Mobile
- U.S. Supreme Court
- Cloud
- Creech v. Brown
- EEOC v. Hill Country Farms
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Kaplan Higher Education Corp.
- Lane v. Franks
- Mine Safety and Health Administration ("MSHA")
- Non-exempt employees
- Northwestern
- Web Content Accessibility Guidelines
- Whistleblower
- "Ban-the-box"
- 2013)
- Berrier v. Bizer
- Bullying
- Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
- Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission
- Companionship services
- Compensatory time off
- Conestoga Woods Specialties v. Sebelius
- Consumer Credit Protection Act (“CCPA”)
- Crystalline Silica
- Davis-Bacon and Related Acts
- Drug-Free Workplaces
- Earnings
- Ehling v. Monmouth-Ocean Hospital Service Corp.
- Federal Stored Communications Act (“SCA”)
- Government employees
- Government shutdown
- Home Health Care Workers
- Illness and Injury Reports
- Job applications
- Jury duty
- Kentucky Department of Workers’ Claims
- Kentucky Wage and Hour Act
- KYSHRM 2013
- Maternity Leave
- McNamara O’Hara Service Contract Act
- NFL Bullying Scandal
- Payroll
- Permissible Exposure Level ("PEL")
- Private employers
- Sebelius v. Hobby Lobby Stores
- Senate Bill 157
- Shazor v. Prof’l Transit Mgmt.
- SHRM
- Small Business Administration (SBA)
- Violence
- Wage garnishment
- WorkSmart Kentucky
- At-will employment
- Chenzira v. Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center
- COBRA
- Defamation
- Defense of Marriage Act (“DOMA”)
- EEOC v. Fabricut
- EEOC v. The Founders Pavilion
- Employee Forms
- Employee Hazards
- Employee of the Month Programs
- Employee Training
- Employer Group Health Plans
- Employer Mandate
- Employment Practices Liability Insurance
- Endorsements
- Federal Workplace Agencies
- FICA
- Form I-9
- Freedom of Speech
- Gatto v. United Airlines and allied Aviation Services
- Giant Food LLC
- Health-Contingent Wellness Programs
- HIPAA
- Litigation
- Madry v. Gibraltar National Corporation
- Mandatory vaccination policies
- Medical Exams
- Megivern v. Glacier Hills Incorporated
- Motivating Factor
- Obesity
- Online Account Protection
- Online Defamation
- Participatory Wellness Programs
- Pennington v. Wagner’s Pharmacy
- Pension Plans
- Play or Pay
- Record Retention
- Reference checks
- Sequester
- Severance Pay
- Social Media Ownership
- Supervisor
- Supplemental Unemployment Compensation Benefits
- Tangible employment actions
- Tax Refund
- Title VII retaliation cases
- Troyer v. T.John.E Productions
- U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services
- Unfair Labor Practice
- United States v. Quality Stores
- United States v. Windsor
- University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center v. Nassar
- Vance v. Ball State University
- Contraceptive Mandate
- Crisis Management
- Employee Arrests
- Employee photographs
- House Labor and Industry Committee
- Job Description
- Job Requirement
- Kentucky’s Whistleblower Act
- KRS 391.170
- Municipal Liability
- Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act
- PhoneDog v. Kravitz
- Posting Requirements
- Public Sector Liability
- Religious Employer
- Right to Work Bill
- Social Privacy Laws
- Strategic Enforcement Plan (SEP)
- Telecommuting
- White v. Baptist Memorial Health Care Corp.
- Wilson v. City of Central City
- Workplace Politics
- Class Action Waivers
- Criminal Background Checks
- Employee Performance Reviews
- Employee Personnel Files
- Federal Arbitration Act (FAA)
- Federal Department of Labor
- Hiring and Firing
- Hosanna-Tabor Opinion
- Informal Discussion Letter (“EEOC Letter”)
- Kentucky Labor Cabinet
- Labor and Pensions ("HELP")
- National Labor Relations Act
- Retaliation by Association
- Salary Threshold
- Social Networking Online Protection Act (SNOP)
- Unemployment Benefits
- Workplace Discrimination, Harassment and Retaliation
- Business Insurance
- Communications Decency Act
- Employee Contracts
- Insurance Coverage
- Internet & Media Law
- Internet Defamation
- Non-Compete Agreement
- Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act
- USERRA
Weight For It: How Will The AMA’s New Decision Affect Employers?
In a press release issued on June 18, 2013, the American Medical Association (“AMA”) declared obesity as a “disease.” The decision was met with sharp controversy, as it automatically classified millions of overweight Americans as diseased. Critics of the classification believe that obesity is not a disease and that there is no way to determine one’s health based on a number on the scale. The AMA hopes the new label will lead to better coverage and treatment for those who suffer from obesity.
Obesity affects approximately one in three Americans. And the AMA’s decision may be affecting 100% of employers, as it once again raises the question of what should be considered as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act (“ADA”). The ADA prohibits discrimination against a qualified employee or applicant with a disability, provided that he can perform essential functions of the job with or without reasonable accommodation. A person is considered “disabled” if he:
- Has a physical or mental condition that substantially limits a major life activity (such was walking, talking, learning, seeing); or,
- Has a history of a disability; or,
- Is perceived to have a physical or mental impairment that is not transitory and minor.
The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (“ADAAA”) specifically provided that “disability” for purposes of the Act “shall be construed in favor of broad coverage of individuals under [the ADA] to the maximum extent permitted by the terms of [the ADA].”
In 2010, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) filed its first-ever lawsuit on an employee’s behalf asserting that “severe” obesity was a protectable disability under the ADA. The case, EEOC v. Resources for Human Development, Inc., provided no clear guidance on what level of obesity is severe enough to warrant ADA-protected disability status. In 2012, The EEOC publicly stated that “the law protects morbidly obese employees and applicants from being subjected to discrimination because of their obesity.” (emphasis added). The EEOC defines morbidly obese as weighing twice the normal body weight. This came after the case EEOC v. BAE Systems, Inc., wherein BAE Systems, a global security and defense company, fired an employee who weighed over 600 lbs. The EEOC claimed the employee was able to perform the essential duties of his job and received good performance reviews and was only terminated because of his size. The case settled, with BAE paying the employee $55,000 in damages.
While it is obvious that morbidly obese employees may require reasonable accommodations, it is harder to know at what point a mildly obese person will require the same. Additionally, under the ADAAA, it does not matter if a person is actually limited by their disability; if an employer perceives impairment (and the impairment is not minor nor transitory), any adverse action on the basis of the impairment can be grounds for a discrimination claim.
The AMA’s new position on obesity illustrates the current cultural shift in viewing obesity as more than just a sign of weak willpower; a “disease” is something beyond an individual’s control. There may be legitimate reasons why an employer is wary to hire or promote an obese person, such as increased insurance premiums, the business’s image, or the heightened possibility for a severely overweight person to have other serious health problems. However, employers must be careful not act on this conscious (or sometimes unconscious) bias. The “obesity as a disease” announcement can only work to bolster an employee’s weight-based discrimination claim. With one in three Americans being obese, the potential for these claims is exponentially high.
Services may be performed by others.
This article does not constitute legal advice.