In season 7, episode 7 of The Simpsons, Homer Simpson decides that he is fed up with his job and wants to work from home. He comes up with a master plan to gorge himself to massive proportions so that he would qualify for disability and be allowed to work from home. This got me thinking. Is obesity a disability? I decided to approach this from a legal perspective and do some further investigation.

In the episode, Homer had a target weight of 300 lbs to qualify. Clearly, a joke based on the actual animated appearance of Homer, I went to discover if there was a weight limit and what it would be. I soon discovered that there isn’t one because obesity is not a disability in most cases. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines a disability as “a condition that substantially limits a major life activity.” Since most obese Americans are perfectly capable of working and functioning at elevated weights, this does not apply to them. However, some of the weight related medical conditions are covered by the ADA. It is therefore very probable that even at the same company, two employees of equal obesity, one would be covered by the ADA and the other would not. You are more likely to win a case if you claim that you were not hired and/or fired because your obesity was a “perceived disability” (see Cook v. State of R.I. Health Dept. of MHRH, 10 F 3d 17 (1st Circ. 1993)) However if you were to go forward with a case claiming that your obesity is a disability, you are most likely to lose as obesity is not protected by the ADA. According to the American Bar Association, 98% of disability discrimination lawsuits favor the employer. [New York Times, July 26, 2000] In addition, many courts have refused to find obesity is a disability unless it results from a physiological condition.

Obviously in the case of Homer Simpson, the cause of his obesity was the endless stuffing his face of fattening foods but it is stereotypical and also incorrect to assume that that is the cause of every obese person’s problem. Certain metabolic malfunctions and thyroid problems can lead to obesity even if the person is not consuming huge amounts of food. The latest discovery of contributions to the obesity problem was the discovery of Adenovirus-36. (See WebMD for more information) 30% of obese people and 11% of normal weight people are infected with this virus. If research continues and conclusively proves that obesity is caused by a viral infection, then the government would be forced to update their discrimination laws to include weight.

Is there any recourse if you have been unfairly discriminated against because of your size? Maybe. The three most prevalent laws referred to in discrimination cases are the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (race, color, religion, sex, or national origin), the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (handicaps) and The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (disabilities.) Unfortunately none of these cover weight related issues.

However, if you are in the state of Michigan you are in luck! Michigan is the only state to have a law against weight discrimination. The Elliot Larsen Civil Rights Act, Act 453 of 1976, Sec. 209 bans discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, age, sex, height, weight, or marital status in the employment sector. In addition, Santa Cruz, CA, the District of Columbia, and San Fransisco, CA have local ordinances that outlaw discrimination based on weight (and other factors).

But how does weight discrimination affect you? A California Attorney, Sondra Solovay, wrote a book entitled Tipping the Scales of Justice: Fighting Weight-Based Discrimination. In her book she cites a study that found that 16% of employers would not hire an obese woman under any circumstances. 44% of employers would only hire under certain circumstances. Discrimination doesn’t get more obvious than that! A study conducted by Mark Roehling at Western Michigan University (request article here) unveiled a striking contrast in salaries among normal and overweight people. Mildly obese women earned 6% lower than a normal weight woman of equal qualifications. Morbidly obese women, however, earned almost 25% less than their normal weight counterparts for the SAME JOB! The findings were not true of men, where obese men only saw a slight reduction in pay and mildly obese men actually had a slightly higher salary than their normal weight peers.

Weight Based Discrimination sadly exists and there are very few laws to protect us from it. What can we do? The National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance is one organization out there dedicated to ending this discrimination, as well as to promote fat tolerance. The Council on Size and Weight Discrimination is another organization fighting weight based discrimination. They even list lawyers (although in limited locales) who are experts in taking cases to fight obesity discrimination as well as alternatives to consider if you feel you have been a target of weight based discrimination.

The Simpsons, sadly, only reinforces the stereotype that overweight people are fat, dumb, and lazy. We must come together as a community to fight these stereotypes. Overweight people are just like anyone else. They work hard. They live their lives. And they deserve to live their lives without discrimination or shame.

The Conclusion: Don’t try at home what Homer Simpson did. You won’t save your town from a nuclear plant explosion and your boss won’t pay for your weight loss surgery.

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