European justice could define obesity as a disability
A Danish childminder has been fired due to obesity. Following his dismissal, he decided to take the case up to the highest authority of justice at European level, arguing discrimination. It is therefore up to the European Court of Justice to decide: is obesity a handicap?
Problematic obesity
Karsten Kaltoft weighed over 158kg at the time of the incident. His dismissal follows his obesity which caused problems during certain routine tasks. For example, according to The Guardian, he was unable to tie the children’s shoelaces unless helped (because bending so much had become too difficult).
Despite 15 years of work at the municipality of Billund (south-west of Denmark), his dismissal is, according to him, unjustified. In an interview with the BCC, Karsten Kaltoft says he was able to sit on the floor to play with the children, and he refutes rumors that he would not be able to tie the children’s shoelaces on his own.
The dismissal, again according to the BBC, follows a gradual decline in the number of children at the center where he was employed. No further explanation was given to the media.
Obesity: a handicap?
A public service employee, Karsten wanted to present the case to the Danish courts, which referred the case to European justice. And what Karsten’s lawyers hope is that obesity will be defined as a disability. This would be a historical judgment.
The British daily The Guardian (1) was able to interview Audrey Williams, who manages the discrimination section of a large law firm (Eversheds). The lawyer indicates that if obesity were defined as a disability by the European court, then the consequences could be really significant. He says that the law in the UK protects the effects of obesity (physical and mental conditions), but not obesity itself, which is not considered a disability. Rather, it is considered a “symptom” . If the European court arrives at the opposite conclusion, then changes will have to be made in the interpretation of the laws, thus offering many more rights to obese people (regardless of the physical or mental consequences).
Such a definition would then make it possible to claim very vast modifications in the relations between employers and employees, but also outside work. For example, we can imagine that obese people can benefit from disabled parking spaces. But also that they have workstations that are better suited or that they can claim other types of similar infrastructure.
In France, obesity ( according to the interpretation of BMI ) affects 15% of the population (2) . This figure is even higher in the UK, where 25% of the population is clinically obese.
It remains to be known, if however obesity were recognized as a handicap, the limits necessary to be able to claim this handicap. Is a BMI greater than 30 (current definition of obesity by the World Health Organization) sufficient? Will this handicap only condition employer-employee relations in the public sector or also in the private sector?
A disclaimer?
If obesity is defined as a “disability”, then the consequences will of course be wide-ranging, and not just at the legislative level.
Indeed, such a definition would raise questions: to what extent are we responsible for our own obesity? Isn’t it a denial to consider obesity as a handicap? It might be tempting to view overweight and obesity as “out of control” or even “normal” phenomena. If behavior changes take place in this direction, then it’s a safe bet that individuals are losing their responsibilities .
In the same way as the definition of obesity as a disease , which has always received a lot of media coverage, this new question on disability raises many questions.
In the USA, obesity is already considered a handicap (3) since the Disabilities Act Amendments Act .
Stephen Paul is the lead author and founder of My Health Sponsor. Holder of a diploma in health and well-being coaching with more than 200 articles in the field of health, he makes it a point of honor to offer advice based on reliable information, based on scientific research, and verified by health professionals.