Overweight people to be protected against discrimination in New York despite concerns people 'will sue over anything'
12 May 2023, 17:18 | Updated: 13 May 2023, 15:20
A bill that bars people from discriminating against people who are overweight has been passed in New York City.
The bill is soon set to be signed into law by Democrat New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and would ban discrimination against people on the basis of their "height or weight" in "employment, housing and public accommodation".
It is also set to include a defence for employers where it is "reasonably necessary" to consider someone's height or weight for the "normal operations" of a role.
But Republicans have voiced concerns over the wider impact of the bill, with GOP New York City council minority leader Joseph Borelli coming out against it, claiming that the law will empower people to "sue anyone and everything".
One of the bill's main sponsors, Councilman Shaun Abreu, said it became clear to him that weight discrimination was a "silent burden" after seeing how people treated him differently after he put on over 40lbs during lockdown.
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The bill was supported by charities and activists, including self-styled "Fat Fab Feminist" Victoria Abraham, who campaigns for civil rights for people who are overweight.
Miss Abraham, testified to the city council earlier this year to help inform the creation of the bill.
Speaking to local news outlet ABC7NY, she said: "In most places in the United States, you can get fired for being fat and have no protection at all, which is crazy because this is a very fat country."
The Bill was widely supported and passed 44-5 in the council on Thursday.
But Councilman Borelli suggested the legislation patronised people who are overweight: "I'm overweight but I'm not a victim," he told the New York Times. "No-one should feel bad for me except my struggling shirt buttons."
Workplace discrimination based on weight has been banned in Michigan since 1976 and there is similar legislation in place in other major cities including San Francisco and the capital, Washington DC, with other state-level bills have been introduced in Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York.
Tegan Lecheler, advocacy director of the National Association for the Advancement of Fat Acceptance, which worked on the Bill, said she hoped the new law would prompt "a larger conversation of framing this beyond health".
She added: "It's not a health issue. It's a civil rights issue. This is really about if people are safe and protected and have the right to be in spaces."
In New York, it is already illegal to discriminate based on 27 characteristics, including age, marital status, disability and national origin, in housing, the workplace and public accommodation
The bill would include exceptions for jobs in which weight and height are a "bona fide occupational qualification".
