Obesity can be considered a disability under European Union employment law, the bloc’s top court ruled on Thursday, in a case relating to an overweight Danish man who claims he was unfairly fired.
Karsten Kaltoft had worked for 15 years as a childminder, looking after children in his home in Billund, western Denmark, before he lost his job in 2010.
Throughout his time of employment, he never weighed less than 160 kilogrammes.
Kaltoft said: “I was heavily overweight when I was hired and heavily overweight when I was fired.
“But I have always carried out my duties.”
Local authorities in Billund said Kaltoft was laid off due to a drop in the number of children needing care and denied that his obesity was a reason for his dismissal.
However, workers’ union took up his case and challenged the decision in court, arguing that Kaltoft had been unlawfully discriminated against because of his weight.
The Danish court turned to the European Court of Justice for advice.
The court said that no EU law has banned discrimination on the explicit grounds of obesity.
“But found that the condition can be considered a disability if it is a long-term limitation that hinders the full and effective participation of that person in professional life,” the court said.
According to the Luxembourg-based judges, this would mean that, in certain cases, obese workers in the EU can seek workplace protection under its anti-discrimination laws.
They argued that it would be irrelevant whether the individual deemed to be responsible for being overweight.
The case now returns to the Danish national court, which must decide whether Kaltoft’s obesity is severe enough to constitute a disability.
dpa/NAN.