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News | 09.09.13

MoCo Lawyers Markel and Fiel: Obesity as an Employment Disability

Recently, Morrison Cohen partner Keith A. Markel and associate Wendy M. Fiel authored an article in Corporate Counsel that posed the question: is the standard of obesity for purposes of employment anti-discrimination laws about to be relaxed? Courts have previously deemed “morbidly obese” individuals - those who are 50 percent to 100 percent (or more than 100 pounds) over their ideal body weight, or who have a body mass index (BMI) value greater than 39 - to be “disabled” for purposes of protection under the Americans with Disabilities Act. However, in June 2013, the American Medical Association recognized obesity as a disease, and included in its definition individuals who are only “moderately obese” and who may be as little as 30 pounds overweight. Will the legal standard for obesity as a disability evolve in response to the AMA's relaxed definition? To read the article, please click here

 

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