Mayor Eric Adams on Friday signed into law a ban on discrimination in New York City based on a person’s weight.
The law adds weight and height to the list of characteristics that are protected from discrimination, along with race, gender, age, religion and sexual orientation, and will apply to employment, housing and access to public accommodations.
Mr. Adams, a Democrat in his second year in office, had expressed support for the bill, which was approved by the City Council earlier this month.
“We should never treat people differently because of their weight,” the mayor said last month.
The law is part of a growing national campaign to address weight discrimination, with lawmakers in New Jersey and Massachusetts considering similar measures. Michigan and Washington State already prohibit it, as do some cities, like Washington, D.C.
New Yorkers testified at a City Council hearing earlier this year about being discriminated against because of their weight. A student at New York University said that desks in classrooms were too small for her. A soprano at the Metropolitan Opera said she had faced body shaming and pressure to develop an eating disorder.
Some business leaders and Republicans had expressed concerns about the bill, including Kathryn S. Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, a business advocacy group, who said that it could be an onerous mandate for companies and would place a burden on regulators and the judicial system.
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