The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has reportedly filed lawsuits in Colorado and Nebraska federal courts against a meatpacking company that allegedly “created a hostile work environment for its Somali and Muslim employees due to their race, national origin, and religion.” According to the EEOC, the workers’ supervisors and co-workers “threw blood, meat, and bones at the Muslim employees and called them offensive names,” placed offensive graffiti on restroom walls and made other offensive comments. The company also allegedly failed to accommodate the Muslim employees “by refusing to allow them to pray according to their religious tenets.” The complaints further apparently allege retaliation, claiming that the employees were fired when “they requested that their evening break be moved so that they could break their fast and pray at sundown during the month of Ramadan.” See EEOC Press Release, August 31, 2010.
Tag Archives discrimination
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has returned to a federal district court litigation alleging that a karate instructor was fired because he was obese in violation of a New York City law that forbids disability-based workplace discrimination. Spiegel v. Schulmann, No. 06-5914 (2d Cir., decided May 6, 2010). According to the appeals court, no cases have yet addressed whether the city law applies to the obese, and the lower court was directed to consider whether the plaintiff had made a prima facie case of discrimination under that law. The plaintiff, who claimed his roommate was fired from a similar position after the plaintiff notified the defendant that he intended to file an employment discrimination charge, also alleged unlawful retaliation under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Affirming the lower court’s dismissal of this claim, the appeals court found that the ADA does not permit an individual to be held liable…
Members of the “Size Acceptance Movement” reportedly protested outside the mayor of London’s office recently, urging him to ensure that employers are not prejudiced against overweight people. The group claims that surveys show 93 percent of employers would rather employ a thin person rather than an overweight one even if such individuals are equally qualified. The group evidently wants to ban “fat-ism” in the UK by emulating a San Francisco ordinance that prohibits height and weight discrimination in housing and employment. Demonstrators said the overweight should be protected on the same grounds as race, age and religious discrimination, and that attacking someone for being fat should be a hate crime. “I have been punched, I have had beer thrown in my face, I have had people attack me on the train,” one protestor said. See BBC News, October 19, 2009.
The American Medical Association (AMA) has reportedly voted against a policy that would describe obesity as a disability, citing concerns over patient care and litigation. In particular, some AMA members noted that a disability designation might curb the willingness of physicians to openly discuss weight issues with their patients. “If obesity is designated as a disability, physicians could be sued or reprimanded for discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act if a patient takes offense at the physician discussing obesity,” stated the resolution adopted at AMA’s recent annual meeting. See The Associated Press and ABC News, June 18, 2009. Meanwhile, the Obesity Action Coalition (OAC) has issued a statement calling for a continued discussion around this topic, urging physicians to take a proactive approach to obesity with their patients. “The determination of obesity should be based on scientific and medical factual data and not fear of litigation,” OAC said in…
