New York City is expected to be the largest American 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 against discrimination, along with race, gender, age, religion and sexual orientation.
The law would prohibit employers and companies from discriminating in employment, housing and access to public accommodation.
Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who wrote a book about losing 35 pounds on a plant-based diet, has not committed to signing the bill but has supported the effort.
“We should never treat people differently because of their weight,” Mr Adams said at a news conference last month.
The bill, passed by 44 of the city council’s 51 members, is part of a growing nationwide campaign to end weight discrimination, with lawmakers in New Jersey and Massachusetts considering similar measures. Michigan and Washington state already ban it, as do some cities, such as Washington. B.Washington, DC. The New York state legislature is also considering a weight discrimination law.
Some business leaders and Republicans had raised concerns 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 onerous mandate for businesses and that enforcement would ultimately would become a burden This is left to the courts and burdens employers, regulators and the judicial system.
Bill backer Shaun Abreu, a north Manhattan councilman who said he’s gained weight during the pandemic, said he hopes the bill would raise awareness about treating heavier people with respect. He said he’s confident the mayor will sign the bill since his office helped negotiate the details with him.
“This vote is more than just providing a legal remedy to make claims against employers and landlords for using weight as a factor,” he said. “It’s also about changing the culture of how we think about weight.”
The city has been a hub for fat activism since at least the 1960s, when a crowd of 500 people held a “Fat In” in Central Park. Holding banners reading “Fat Power,” the group raised concerns about discrimination that supporters say has persisted for decades.
“The anti-fat movement not only breaks our hearts — it drains our wallets, steals our opportunities and limits our lives,” said Tigress Osborn, chair of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, a nonprofit advocacy group, earlier this year year at a City Council hearing on the bill.
The bill also bans discrimination based on height, and a separate bill would ban discrimination against people with tattoos. It provides exceptions for certain circumstances, such as when a person’s height or weight could impede the ability to perform the essential skills of a job. Some jobs, such as police officers and firefighters, require physical demands such as a timed run or climbing a six-foot barrier.
According to the law, complaints about weight discrimination would be investigated by the city’s Human Rights Commission, which already handles complaints about race, gender and pregnancy.
Some workers have unsuccessfully filed weight discrimination lawsuits in the past, including a New Jersey bus driver who lost his job after failing a medical exam and a New York firefighter who was told he should lose 31 pounds in 30 days lose weight.
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 soprano at the Metropolitan Opera said she was subjected to body shaming and pressure to develop an eating disorder or undergo bariatric surgery.
Ms Osborn celebrated the passage of the bill on Thursday and said it was sending a message to the rest of the world that size discrimination was a “grave injustice”.
“It’s time for legislators across the country to ensure that everyone and every entity is protected by the law and has equal opportunity,” she said.