An overweight Danish citizen may make legal history by calling for employers across Europe to treat obesity as a disability. The European Court of Justice in Luxembourg will on Thursday hear proceedings brought by Danish childminder Karsten Kaltoft, who alleges he was dismissed by his local authority Billund Kommune as he is obese.
The authority claimed that he was unable to perform his duties and needed the help of colleagues to even tie children's shoelaces. The issue is whether Kaltoft's obesity falls within the definition of disability under EU law and whether, by dismissing him, his employer may have been guilty ofdisability discrimination.
If Kaltoft - who weighed more than 158 kg when he was dismissed - wins the case, obesity would need to be approached like any other physical or mental impairment, preventing an employer from treating an employee less favourably because of their weight, not because of consequential medical problems. This would include the ability to dismiss.
The court, whose rulings are binding throughout the EU, will have to decide whether it is legitimate to discriminate on the grounds of obesity and whether the burden of proof in any future cases should be on the employer or employee.
The ECJ will also consider whether, if there is a duty to prevent discrimination against those suffering from obesity, it applies just to the public sector or across the labour market.
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