New York City is going to ban weight discrimination
New York City becomes the largest US city to ban discrimination based on a person’s weight.
On Thursday, the New York City Council passed a bill that would add a person’s weight to the list of characteristics protected from discrimination, along with race, gender, age, religion and sexual orientation.
The law prohibits employers and companies from discriminating in employment, housing and access to public accommodations.
Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who wrote a book about losing 35 pounds on a plant-based diet, has not pledged to sign the bill, but supported the effort.
“We should never treat people differently because of their weight,” Adams said at a news conference last month.
The bill, which was approved by 44 of the 51 members of the city council, is part of a growing national campaign to tackle weight discrimination. legislators in New Jersey And Massachusetts consider similar measures. Michigan and Washington state already ban it, as do some cities, such as New York’s Washington, D.C. state legislatures considering a weight discrimination law.
Some business leaders and Republicans had expressed concern about the bill, including Kathryn S. Wylde, president of the Partnership for New York City, a business advocacy group, who said it would be another tough mandate for businesses and enforcement would eventually be left to the courts, putting pressure on employers, regulators and the judiciary.
The bill’s sponsor, Shaun Abreu, a Northern Manhattan councilman who said he gained weight during the pandemic, said he hoped the bill would raise awareness about treating heavier people with respect. He said he was confident the mayor would sign the bill because his office helped him negotiate the details.
“This vote is more than just providing a legal remedy to bring claims against employers and landlords for using weight as a factor,” he said. “It’s also about changing the culture in how we think about weight.”
The city has been a center for fat activism at least since the 1960s, when a mob of 500 people held a “fat in” in Central Park. Holding banners reading “Fat Power,” the group raised concerns about discrimination that advocates say has persisted for decades.
“Anti-fatness doesn’t just break our hearts — it drains our wallets, steals our opportunities, and limits our lives,” said Tigress Osborn, president of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, a nonprofit advocacy group, at a hearing earlier this year. in the council about the bill.
The bill also prohibits discrimination based on height, and a separate bill would prohibit discrimination against people with tattoos. It creates exemptions for certain circumstances, including when a person’s height or weight could interfere with performing the essential skills of a job. Some jobs, such as police officers and firefighters, for example Physical requirements such as a timed run or climbing over a six-foot barrier.
Under the bill, complaints about weight discrimination would be investigated by the city’s Human Rights Commission, which already handles complaints about race, gender and pregnancy.
Some employees have unsuccessfully filed lawsuits for weight discrimination in the past, including a bus driver in New Jersey who lost his job after failing a medical exam and a New York City firefighter who was told to lose 71 pounds in 30 days.
At the City Council hearing, New Yorkers testified that they were discriminated against because of their weight. A New York University student said desks in classrooms were too small for her, preventing her from taking notes. A Metropolitan Opera soprano said she had faced body shaming and pressure to develop an eating disorder or have bariatric surgery.
Ms Osborn celebrated the passing of the bill on Thursday, saying it sent a message to the rest of the world that tailoring discrimination was a “serious injustice”.
“It’s time for legislators across the country to make sure everyone and every body is protected by the law and has equal opportunity,” she said.