Ban on Weight and Height Discrimination:
Last Thursday, May 11, 2023, the City Council approved a bill that prohibits discrimination on the basis of a person’s height or weight in opportunities of employment, housing, and access to public accommodation. This law, however, includes an exemption for employers who have a “bona fide occupational” reason to consider weight or height, and situations in which there is a public health and/or safety concern. For example, some positions like police officers and firefighters have physical requirements such as a timed run, climbing over a six-foot barrier, or dragging a fire hose. In those cases, the carve-out section of the bill could protect the employer against potential discrimination claims.
Under this bill, complaints about height or weight discrimination would be investigated by the City’s Commission on Human Rights, which already handles complaints of discrimination based on specified protected characteristics, which include age, race, gender, sexual orientation, and disability.
The Commission has investigated at least two situations regarding weight when another protected category like pregnancy or race was involved, including one in which a supervisor allegedly made derogatory comments about a worker’s weight and race. In that situation, as part of the settlement agreement, the employer paid emotional distress damages and civil penalties.
Similar laws exist in Michigan, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Santa Cruz,...
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