The ideal of weight as a disability is debatable in Corporate America. The American Disability Act (ADA) defines a disability as meaning, with respect to an individual, a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual, or… being regarded as having such an impairment.” The impairment terms are when a person is not physically able to do the job because of their weight. Recently in the news, a Russian dancer was released from a dance company because she was too heavy for the other dancers to lift her.
The Russian dancer is far from being obese and no where near being overweight by physical appearance but because she was release for not being able to do her job is an issue that may / may not qualify for a suit of weight discrimination. The ADA regard to this issue is if the boss “regards” the overweight employee as being “physically impaired.” I will be following this case to see the outcome. American obesity is on the rise by 20%. American Obesity Association states on its web site that 55% of American adults are categorized as obese or overweight. Obesity is known to be unhealthy and it can substantially increase risk for many disabling conditions such as: diabetes, heart disease, stroke, gall bladder disease, and some forms of cancer.
That said,.
