Should employers be allowed to discriminate against fatties?

[Saft]

A study from Duke University found that the fattest workers requested seven times as much in medical claims as their fit co-workers.

DEAR EMPLOYERS: Here's Why You Should (Quietly) Discriminate Against Fat People... - Business Insider


If you owned and ran a small business, would you have an issue with hiring fatties?

 

[á´…eparted]

If being fat prevents you from doing your job effectively up to the standard of everyone else, then yes. If you're morbidly obease, but can still do everything just fine, then it doesn't matter and it's not right to use that as a basis.

All that should matter at the end of the day is if you are able to do your job well enough. If you can't, regardless of why, then goodbye.

 

[prplchknz]

i feel like most of this is how people used to discriminate against the disable, people who aren't white, and non straight people. now that is no longer legal they have to discriminate against fat people and smokers. and that's sad like [MENTION=20829]Hard[/MENTION] side it should be based on ability and not weight. and this whole we want equal rights is never gonna happen people are gonna find a new way to discriminate and to say it's gonna happen is complete bullshit and this is the main reason why.

 

[miss fortune]

If being fat prevents you from doing your job effectively up to the standard of everyone else, then yes. If you're morbidly obease, but can still do everything just fine, then it doesn't matter and it's not right to use that as a basis.

All that should matter at the end of the day is if you are able to do your job well enough. If you can't, regardless of why, then goodbye.

this

plus, I'm in good shape, but I take full advantage of my company's medical plan (and all other benefits offered)... they payed for my IUD, for instance, and glasses and contacts and so on and so forth. I'm also more at risk than most of my coworkers because I take more physical risks at work in order to get things done and because the challenge is kind of fun... if anyone's going to get injured in some sort of horrible manner I'm pretty high on the list

they're actually paying for an EMG later this month as it is

and as an added thought, wouldn't that just pave the way to making it easier to get rid of people with questionable things in their past who could pose a risk? I mean, according to some I'm a ticking time bomb

 

[kyuuei]

Not at all. Jeezus no.

First: No one knows WHY they're fat to begin with. And it isn't an employer's business. If they cannot do their job and were once able to, that's one thing.. but my sister is skinny as a tooth pick, and sick as shit. My mother is "fat" but because of life saving medicine that's made her 10x stronger (and 100% surviving) than she was before when she was skinny with an undiagnosed illness.

Second: Morbidly obese people need to make money too. Skinny people can be bad at math (and thus slower cashiers), and thus drive down productivity the same way a fat person can need a few more breaks to rest their feet. The reality is businesses discriminate all the time based on shit they shouldn't because it's bad for business. People need to fucking care about their damned employees. People need to not be scared of revealing medical issues. I am lucky in that I get to hide mine. I LOOK healthy, but any second my hip can lock up and suddenly voila: I can't walk. If I told anyone hiring me that they wouldn't. Not a great thing to have when you have a career where people depend on your ability to get to them quickly. But what's the alternative? Just give up? Not be productive the other 99% of the time because it could possibly happen? And I'd be feeding and leeching off of the system trying to claim all sorts of disabilities and why I can't work because no one will hire me, and these same business owners that discriminated against me will bitch and whine that I'm using tax dollars instead of paying taxes.

Third: It's none of their fucking business, and businessmen are always hypocrites. As long as they can DO the job, why the fuck would anyone care ever. Especially now-a-days where health care is becoming mandatory no matter what. Bunch of skanky shank-worthy fuckers crying about how fat people are ruining their businesses and lives so they can only have 3 turkeys at christmas dinner this year. The CEO of abercrombie and fitch or whatever they're called was making mad shit about being all "omg hot people only plz kthnx no fatties" and the fucker wasn't hot or in shape by his own standards at all. It's stupid. Fat does not determine health, but fat people are more likely to accept help medically than skinny people. It's the stupid skinny people that need more convincing.

Fourth: Studies have always shown that more doctor visits correlate to better health. Areas without doctors or people who rarely visit the doctor tend to have less contact with a vital source of information on health. And say the skinny person never uses it, but their kid is sick and they use it all the time for the kid? This data is heavily skewed in favor of a particular skinny agenda.

The data is skewed, it's a bullshit way to discriminate against fat people, and it's all garbage. The end.

 

[Tellenbach]

Employers should be allowed to fire or hire anyone they please for whatever reason. It's their business; one does not have a right to a job. With government jobs, they should use objective measures of output or productivity; if any employee misses excessive work from being sick, they should be fired. Work is about performance, not sparing someone's feelings.

 

[Luke O]

Employers should be allowed to fire or hire anyone they please for whatever reason. It's their business; one does not have a right to a job. With government jobs, they should use objective measures of output or productivity; if any employee misses excessive work from being sick, they should be fired. Work is about performance, not sparing someone's feelings.

So if you were fired tomorrow because your boss didn't like your tie, you'd be ok with that?

 

[Luke O]

Every body is different, though everyone is expected in some way to take care of their own health. But nobody should be sacked for being overweight unless it impacts on job performance, and not without the employer taking action to work with their employee to solve the matter (as with anything that affects job performance). It makes sense, you don't want to lose experience if you can help it. Even for jobs which involve a lot of physical activity - armed services, firefighters, police etc.

 

[SpankyMcFly]

So if you were fired tomorrow because your boss didn't like your tie, you'd be ok with that?

Most states are 'at will'. Which means anything goes. Your hair looks funny, buh bai. I don't like the tone in your voice for the above question, buh bai. You drive an early model Prius? buh bai. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/At-will_employment However you can still collect unemployment, appeal to your union, file civil suit etc. Whether or not just cause needs to be established and what constitutes just cause varies quite a bit.

I remember a coworker who was fired for not calling in to work and missing 3+ days in a row of work. He was fired for 'work abandonment'. Case closed right? He applied for unemployment, was denied, filed an appeal and won the appeal. His case was; He fell off the wagon (recovering alcoholic) and was too inebriated to make sound decisions during this time. He'd had a family tragedy and started hitting the sauce again. This was during the tail end of The Great Recession so he qualified for up to 99 weeks of unemployment. True story.

 

[SpankyMcFly]

@Safi "Should employers be allowed to discriminate against fatties?" Yes and the skinnies too If your appearance is a factor in doing your job, even more so. No one is 'entitled' to a job and if you don't like your job, find a better one and move on. Use your mobility.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

The burden of healthcare shouldn't be on employers in the first place.

Non-issue.

 

[Riva]

Obviously not.

They do the hiring so if research indicates the obese people will cause issues in the future they can stereotype all obese people and not hire them. Terrible really, but that happens all the time.

Like women not getting hired or women getting promoted over men due to tits. Shit happens and that's how the world works.

But no no no no no to them being discriminated once they have been hired. Fuck no!

 

[kyuuei]

@Safi "Should employers be allowed to discriminate against fatties?" Yes and the skinnies too If your appearance is a factor in doing your job, even more so. No one is 'entitled' to a job and if you don't like your job, find a better one and move on. Use your mobility.

Disagree. There ARE jobs out there where appearances are everything and you really cannot avoid blatant discrimination. I do agree with the idea that if you want to work at "Tallywackers" novelty-use-men-as-a-piece-of-meat-and-eye-candy restaurant, you should really be a dude when you apply. And strip clubs shouldn't be getting railed for not hiring less-than-desirable girls in their market. But truly, the buck has to stop somewhere. I've seen at-will used waay too many times by bigots and assholes to by-pass discrimination laws for women, blacks, disabled people, even military members, etc. Truly, the more discrimination there is in the job market, the more you open up your taxes to welfare and unemployment and shit. And you get assholes with jobs complaining that people without jobs just 'aren't trying' when they're getting pushed out left and right. It's easy for someone with money to relocate, but the less money you have the more time you spend trying to get your life together. I've always spent far more time and money trying to get a job than I ever did maintaining one. And, having switched jobs on a sometimes monthly basis for various reasons, that time between paychecks is killer. I don't think at-will should be as liberally used as it is, and it hurts minorities, promotes stereotypes, and most importantly kills the welfare pool with legitimate but completely avoidable unemployment and welfare numbers added for the convenience of, "I don't like their tie." Implement a dress code if you don't like the tie.

 

[Rasofy]

people should have the natural right to discriminate

 

[Siúil a Rúin]

If being fat prevents you from doing your job effectively up to the standard of everyone else, then yes. If you're morbidly obease, but can still do everything just fine, then it doesn't matter and it's not right to use that as a basis.

All that should matter at the end of the day is if you are able to do your job well enough. If you can't, regardless of why, then goodbye.

This is reasonable, but it also creates a lot of grey area. I can totally see how this applies to a fireman who needs to be able to rescue people, move with agility, have muscle strength to handle equipment or else people will die. How does this apply to a receptionist at a law office? If people are snooty and want a receptionist that looks like a model, there is one way that improves their job performance if it means bringing in more customers, but it is also a gross elitist mindset because there is no reason a heavy person can't look attractive and professional. I would probably find the law office receptionist firing due to weight offensive, but not the fireman. One issue is purely about elitism and money, while the other about saving lives.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

I think we should shift the discussion to instances where extra weight might be a benefit to the company.

seasonal Santa Claus temp agencies, that sort of thing.

I wonder if the rebel alliance had to charge Porkins higher premiums?

 

[Poki]

Depends on job really. Job has to be dependent on weight though. If they are using equipment with a weight or size limit then yes. If not then no. A "fattie" that can't fit down an aisle of an airplane should not be a flight attendant. The problem is that people who dont like them will make up "excuses" and not have real legitimate reasons. Easy way to tell is if you solve all the reasons the person has no issues, excuse is when you solve all reasons person still doesn't want them.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

Professional Cannonball divers. Extra weight a definite benefit.

 

[chubber]

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Gasps for air hahaahahhahahahhahuahhhahahaahahauuahauauahahah

Ok back to some seriousness. So we have this guy at work. He looks like a ball. But the nicest human being on the planet. Always a smile, always politely greeting. You know he doesn't annoy me at all at work until he starts to do the snoring thing. Yup he snores. He has a condition that makes him fall asleep at his desk. I remember phoning him often to wake him up. I would have preferred working in an office secluded from everyone. So while others put up with it. I couldn't. I was still nice to him.

But what can you do?

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

If a company had to fly employees to a meeting/seminar and the plane crashed in the Andes, the fattest employees might outperform the skinniest employees in areas of survival.