A ruling that obesity may amount to a disability in certain circumstances for the purposes of employment law is “not surprising”, an employment lawyer has said.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has backed an earlier Advocate General’s Opinion that obesity can in severe cases be classified as a disability, in a Danish case involving a morbidly obese man who was dismissed from his job as a childminder, Kaltoft v Municipality of Billund.
The Advocate General had rejected the argument that discrimination on grounds of obesity is unlawful in itself, but considered that it might be a disability where it “hinders full and effective participation in professional life on an equal basis with other workers”. The question of whether or not obesity is self-inflicted was dismissed as irrelevant.
Tina Wisener, employment partner at Doyle Clayton, says: “Whether a person is disabled will depend on whether their obesity gives rise to a physical or mental impairment and whether it affects their ability to participate in employment on an equal basis with other workers on a long term basis, for example because of reduced mobility or the onset of medical conditions associated with obesity.
“For many people, their obesity does not affect their work in any sense and employers would not be expected or obliged to make any adjustments for them as they would not be considered disabled. The judgment does not really add anything to what employers already knew.
“The Advocate General suggested that those classified as WHO Class 111 obese are likely to be disabled. Although the ECJ did not make any similar comment, the key issue will always be the effect the obesity has on the ability to work on an equal footing with others. There is therefore no need to define the level of obesity which will result in someone being classed as disabled.”
