NYC Weight Discrimination Lawyers

No employee should be forced to endure weight discrimination in the workplace. As of November 2023, New York City law explicitly prohibits discrimination based on weight or height. The groundbreaking new law—an amendment to the New York City Human Rights Law—makes it illegal for employers, landlords, and other entities in the city to discriminate against individuals based on their physical appearance, including their weight.

This law applies to all employers with four or more employees in New York City, as well as landlords, housing providers, and places of public accommodation. It protects individuals from discrimination in various areas, such as employment and housing. Under the new law, employers cannot make hiring, firing, promotion, or compensation decisions based on an individual’s weight or height. They cannot create a hostile work environment or harass employees based on these characteristics.

Before the enactment of this law, weight-related discrimination cases in New York City were typically handled under the framework of disability discrimination. Courts relied on case law, such as Delta Air Lines v. New York State Division of Human Rights and New York State Division of Human Rights v. Xerox, to determine whether obesity or being overweight could be considered a disability on a case-by-case basis.

The case law reflects a growing recognition that obesity and weight-related conditions are complex issues that cannot always be easily addressed through “self-control” or “diet and exercise” alone. The American Medical Association’s recognition of obesity as a disease in 1997 and the increasing awareness of the societal and environmental factors contributing to the “obesity epidemic” have paved the way for more robust legal protections against weight-based discrimination.

Federal law still requires the determination of whether obesity and weight are a disability. However, the new NYC law removes the need to consider weight as a disability, providing more direct and comprehensive protections against weight-based discrimination in the city.

With the new city law in place, individuals who experience weight discrimination in New York City now have a clear legal pathway to seek justice and hold perpetrators accountable. The law sends a strong message that discrimination based on physical appearance, including weight, will not be tolerated in the workplace or any other sphere of life in New York City.

The New York State Human Rights Law does not currently include height and weight as protected categories. As a result, individuals outside New York City who experience weight-based discrimination may not have the same direct legal protections under state and federal law. However, in some cases, obesity or weight-related conditions may be considered disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act or the New York State law’s disability protections, providing potential legal recourse for those who face discrimination.