Reduce Risk: Is Obesity a Disability?
Posted in : December on 23 December 2014
The Employment Team at A&L Goodbody
A&L Goodbody
The decision in FOA (Kaltoft) v The Municipality of Billund
Facts
Mr Kaltoft was a child-minder for a local council in Denmark. He weighed 160kg (25 stones) and was categorised as clinically obese. He brought a discrimination case against his former employer because he claimed to have been dismissed as a result of his obesity. The District Court in Denmark referred the question of whether obesity could be a disability to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
Judgment
The CJEU held that obesity is not a protected characteristic per se. There is therefore no general principle of EU law which prohibits discrimination on the grounds of obesity. However, the CJEU did find that
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This article is correct at 06/08/2015
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The Employment Team at A&L Goodbody
A&L Goodbody
The main content of this article was provided by The Employment Team at A&L Goodbody. Contact telephone number is +44 28 9072 7402 or email gwalls@algoodbody.com
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