National Law Journal Focuses on Obesity and ADA Claims

Employment law practitioners are, according to a recent article, predicting
an increase in the number of obesity-related claims filed against employers
under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The 2008 amendments have
made it easier for employees to prevail in these cases, and a trio of claims
filed and resolved in recent months demonstrates that the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission and courts are recognizing obesity as a disability in
itself, rather than focusing on some underlying physiological condition as the
basis for the employees’ disability. Settlements of obesity claims in Texas and
Louisiana have resulted in payments of $55,000 and $125,000, respectively,
while the Montana Supreme Court determined that a physiological disorder
underlying morbid obesity is not necessary for a disability claim under a state
law that mirrors the ADA. See The National Law Journal, September 24, 2012.