Takeaway: The employer did not discriminate in violation of state law against a former employee based on a perceived disability, because the employee was able to perform job duties satisfactorily except when his weight, not a perceived disability, interfered with his ability to do so. But the former employee's claim under a state law that specifically prohibits discrimination based on weight survived a motion for summary judgment.
A former employee's state law claim that he was discriminated against based on a perceived disability pertaining to his weight failed, a federal district court decided. But the court allowed his claim of unlawful demotion based on his weight to proceed under a separate state law. The lawsuit was subsequently settled, according to Bloomberg.
The employee worked as a swing courier for Federal Express (FedEx), where he did not have a set route but worked where and as needed. The employee also did not have an assigned delivery vehicle; his vehicle varied depending upon his route.
The employee weighed approximately 450 pounds according to court papers, and because of his weight, could not buckle his seatbelt in some delivery vehicles. When this happened, FedEx reassigned him to warehouse work but paid him as a swing courier.
In January 2021, the employee requested a seatbelt extender so he could work any route, and submitted a reasonable accommodation request form to his supervisor, who forwarded the form to the corporate human capital management...
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