by Marc Rhee, Esq.

Last month, a court in Missouri ruled that obesity may be considered a disability. The plaintiff, Joseph Whittaker, filed suit against America’s Car-Mart alleging he was terminated due to his obesity, which violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). America’s Car-Mart moved to dismiss the suit, arguing that obesity is not a disability under the ADA. The Judge rejected America’s Car-Mart’s motion so the claim will move forward.

If the court finds that obesity is indeed a disability, this could have implications for future workers’ compensation claims. Normally if an injured employee cannot to return to work, there is a determination made whether this is primarily due to the workplace accident or some other pre-existing condition. In situations where the work accident exacerbates the pre-existing condition such that the employee is unable to return to work, indemnity benefits can be awarded. If obesity becomes an accepted disability, then an obese injured employee may be able to argue that his pre-existing condition was exacerbated by his employment and thus contributed to his disability and inability to return to work. In the alternative, injured employees may argue that they work in an unsafe environment and their employers had not accommodated their disabilities, which led to injury.