Leslie Perkins
When you think of protections against discrimination in the workplace, the first things that come to mind are traditional characteristics such as race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, and disability. However, in the coming years we could see discrimination based on weight added to that list.
Current Measures Against Body Discrimination
Currently, there is no federal law protecting employees from discrimination based on weight. However, one state (and a handful of cities) have implemented statutes that ban discrimination based on weight to ensure that people of all sizes and heights are given equal access to employment and, in some instances, housing.
Michigan is the only state that currently bans weight-based discrimination. Interestingly, Michigan implemented its ban on weight-based discrimination nearly a half-century ago in 1976. Since then, no other state has implemented its own anti-body discrimination statute.
However, some cities have enacted anti-body-discrimination measures including Washington, D.C.; San Francisco, CA; Santa Cruz, CA; Binghamton, NY; Urbana, IL; and Madison, WI.
Most recently, New York City joined this group of cities on November 22, 2023, by implementing a ban on height and weight discrimination. Thie new law prohibits discrimination based on actual or perceived height or weight of an applicant or employee, with some exceptions carved out- such as when height or weight are material to an employee or job applicant’s performance of the essential functions of the job, or where consideration of height or weight is reasonably necessary for execution of the employer’s normal operations. Such exceptions can be used as affirmative defenses to claims brought under the anti-body-discrimination statute.
For the first time since Michigan implemented its anti-body-discrimination law almost 50 years ago, Colorado is the next state expected to make discrimination based on height or weight illegal, in 2024. The new Colorado law would also apply to discrimination in employment and housing.
Conclusion
While this is still a new trend, employers should keep an eye out for legislation in their states concerning body discrimination. If employers catch wind of potential legislation in their state banning discrimination based on weight or height, they should consider reviewing their employee handbooks, employee training materials, hiring materials (including job postings, applications, and descriptions) and antidiscrimination policies to be sure that they can quickly include these new protected classes in their policies.
