Lawyers Eye Weight Bias Suits
By Ron Zapata, ron.zapata@portfoli omedia.com
Tuesday, May 29, 2007 --- Most exercise gurus entering an aerobics
class wouldn't expect the instructor to stand 5 feet 8 inches tall
and weigh 240 pounds. Then again, most aerobics instructors aren't
like Jennifer Portnick.
Portnick's application to teach exercise classes was rejected by
Jazzercise Inc. in 2002 because the company believed she didn't look
fit. Portnick subsequently filed a complaint with San Francisco's
Human Rights Commission alleging weight discrimination and after a
barrage of media coverage, Jazzercise settled with Portnick and
dropped its "fit" job requirement.
Weight discrimination cases like Portnick's are rarely seen because
most cities and states do not have statutes specifically protecting
the rights of the obese. However, as the prevalence of obesity
continues to grow in the U.S., is it only a matter of time before
weight discrimination joins race, sex and age discrimination as a
major source of employment lawsuits?
"We've declared a war on fat in this country, and I think we will
see more claims based on that," said Sondra Solivay, Portnick's
attorney in the case. She said the weight correlates directly to
other civil rights issues and it is only a matter of time before the
constitutionality of weight discrimination is challenged in the
courts.
Michigan is currently the only state which prohibits discrimination
based on weight or height. However, a bill has been introduced in
Massachusetts that would add height and weight as protected classes
from discrimination in the state.
Massachusetts State Rep. Byron Rushing filed a version of the bill
in 1991, and has filed one in every session since 1995-1996. "I
believe that opportunity in our society should be merit-based, "
Rushing said. "When Martin Luther King said he looked for a time
when "my four little children will one day live in a nation where
they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the
content of their character" it meant judgments on merit for
everybody, not just 'negroes.'"
Several studies have shown that weight discrimination is widespread
in the U.S.
