Los Angeles Employment Lawyer Blog

Are you considered morbidly obese? Is the cause of your obesity physiological? If so, your employer cannot discriminate against you solely for this reason, which means that they cannot fire you for being morbidly obese as long as you are able to perform your job. Obesity, by its medical definition, is a disease in which excess body fat has accumulated to such an extent that your health may be negatively affected. Your BMI must be greater than 30 to be considered medically obese. Morbid obesity occurs when a person is over 100 lbs overweight or their BMI is over 40. Not only is morbid obesity an individual condition, which can lead to the contraction of diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease, but it is a growing health problem in the United States and California. Over 64.5% of American adults considered to be overweight or obese. An experienced employment lawyer can help you make sure you receive the same treatment your non-obese co-worker receives and that you do not suffer disability discrimination. Please visit our webpage on Obesity Discrimination to learn more about your rights.

Many factors can contribute to morbid obesity. These factors include overeating or binge eating, stress, genetic predispostion, insufficient amount of exercise or sleep, to name a few. Your employer might be discriminating against you if he does not allow you to miss work for medical appointments or allow you to take a reasonable amount of time off work. If you are disabled as a result of your obesity, your employer also needs to provide you with reasonable on-site accomodations.

If you are classified as disabled as a result of your morbid obesity, are able to perform the essential functions of your job, but still feel your employer has discriminated against you due to your disability, the experienced employment attorneys at Greenberg & Rudman might be able to assist you in protecting your rights. If you are in California, call us now at the Law Offices of Greenberg & Rudman LLP at 1-800-252-9776 (1-800-ALAWPRO) for a free consultation regarding your legal rights and to hear how one of our experienced employment lawyers may be able to help you.