Size Matters

Size discrimination is an unfortunate fact of life for many fat people working in a corporate environment. Fat workers are often passed over for promotions, denied raises, and told outright to their faces that they are undesirable to clients. Not only that, fat employees on average earn 1 to 6 percent less than employees whose weight is considered "normal." Fat people are also often the scapegoats for rising corporate health care costs. What protections are there for those facing size discrimination? Being classified as "overweight" generally does not entitle you to protections under the Americans With Disabilities Act or the ADA Amendment Act of 2008, however, under the ADAAA being classified as "morbidly obese" or having health problems considered "weight-related" does. The larger you are, the more likely you are to experience size discrimination, and the more protections you have under the law. But those who are not considered "morbidly obese" also need to be protected, and unfortunately there are no laws that prohibit discrimination based on weight.

As if size discrimination wasn't enough to deal with, many workplaces are instituting weight loss incentive programs, which further marginalizes fat employees. Incentive programs that include rewards for departments or teams that lose the most weight create a hostile atmosphere in which fat people are shamed for not being able to lose significant amounts of weight.