Obesity ruling no “game changer”

An Advocate General’s Opinion that obesity can be classed as a disability under EU law is “not a game changer”, a leading employment lawyer has said.

Delivering his Opinion in Kaltoft v Kommunernes Landsforening, acting on behalf of the Municipality of Billund C-354/13 at the European Court of Justice (ECJ), AG Jääskinen said that morbid obesity could come within the meaning of “disability” if “it is of such a degree as to hinder full participation in professional life on an equal footing with other employees”. Therefore, only obesity severe enough to cause problems with mobility, stamina or mood would amount to disability.

Makbool Javaid, employment partner at Simons, Muirhead & Burton, says: “A lot of unrealistic publicity has surrounded this case, frightening people into thinking that the result could mean that ‘obesity’ in itself would be declared a disability in its own right...If the ECJ rules as I suspect it will, given the previous judgments, then there really should be no surprises when its definition is applied in UK law—yes, obese people could be protected but it depends on the facts and critically whether the person has a physical or mental impairment.”