Federal Law Report on
Obesity and the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990
Obesity and the ADA of 1990
The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) bans discrimination based on disability. It provides individuals with disabilities civil rights protections like those provided to individuals on the basis of race, sex, national origin and religion (Mathias, 2003). The ADA defines "disability" as a physical or mental impairment that limits one or more major life activities and will not consider obese individuals as disabled unless the weight limits a major life activity. Federal courts have ruled that morbid obesity falls under the category of medical conditions which limit one or more life activities (Garcia, n.d).
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 established basic federal laws on employment discrimination. It does not identify weight as a protected characteristic, and as a result, does not provide protection for obese individuals who have been discriminated......
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Approximate Pages: 2 (260 words per double-spaced page) |