Of course, to be protected under the disability laws, the employer must have actual knowledge that the subject employee's obesity is cause by a particular physiological condition. This means that if an obese employee is seeking an accommodation to his/her condition, it is in that employee's best interest to explain to his management or human resources managers that the reasons for his obesity are outside of his control and are therefore likely to be a medical condition, entitled to legal protection. If the employer is not aware of that, they will have no obligation to comply with disability laws with regard to that overweight employee.
The California cases specifically addressing disability discrimination claims on the basis of weight are few but instructive. Most courts seem to agree that obesity does not constitute a qualifying disability at workplace without proof of physiological cause for that condition. Cassista v. Community Foods, Inc. (1993). That is, simply becoming overweight because of one's self-imposed and voluntary eating habits or lack of exercise is not a qualifying disability, while being overweight due to genetic, hormonal or other disorder may be a protected disability, unless maintaining a certain weight is a required occupational qualification, like it is in the case of paramedics, firefighters, police officers, and flight attendants.
Of course, to be protected under the disability laws, the employer must have actual knowledge that the subject employee's obesity is cause by a particular physiological condition. This means that if an obese employee is seeking an accommodation to his/her condition, it is in that employee's best interest to explain to his management or human resources managers that the reasons for his obesity are outside of his control and are therefore likely to be a medical condition, entitled to legal protection. If the employer is not aware of that, they will have no obligation to comply with disability laws with regard to that overweight employee.
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Watch this brief video for important advice on requesting reasonable accommodations to your medical condition at workplace in California and avoiding one common mistake that many disabled workers make when returning to work after disability / medical leave. Recently, I have been running over and over into the same issue: an employer creates a leave policy which makes sense to them but is absolutely incompatible with the California laws on disability leave and FMLA/CFRA. For example, a typical employment policy in a handbook or employee manual might state that if an employee doe not report illness within 24 hours or if he doesn't provide medical certification within a day or two of taking time off, he will be considered terminated or he will be considered to have abandoned his job. This kind of policy is a mine field for an employer, as it ignores the basic obligations of the employer underr California Fair Employment and Housing Act which mandates that an employee must notify his employer of his condition/disability within reasonable time, without imposing specific restrictions.
For obvious reasons due to certain circumstances, such as being hospitalized for instance, an employee might only be able to call or e-mail his employer directly or through his friends/relative (if the employee is unconscious or not mobile, for instance) and notify an employer of his condition without being able to provide medical paperwork within the time prescribed by the company policy. Terminating an employee, just because he didn't provide the medical certification documentation right on time virtually guarantees that the employer will be held liable for violation various disability laws, especially if the employer was put orally or otherwise on notice of the employee's medical condition, and if that employee had a serious illness or disability. Under California disability laws, an employer has an affirmative obligation to engage with an employee who has actual or perceived disability (or medical condition) in an interactive process or direct communication to find reasonable accommodations to his or her condition. Many employees suffering from a disability or a particular medical condition qualify for FMLA leave, under which they are entitled to be placed on unpaid leave for up to 12 weeks in a year, assuming that certain FMLA conditions are satisfied. |
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