Daily Document Update: HR Compliance Library, ¶46,212, Washington Supreme Court rules obesity always qualifies as an impairment under the WLAD - STATE LAW, (Jul. 16, 2019)

摘要

Obesity, ruled the Washington Supreme Court in response to a question certified by the Ninth Circuit, "alwaysqualifies as an impairment" under the plain language of the WLAD "because it is recognized by the medicalcommunity as a ‘physiological disorder, or condition’ that affects multiple body systems listed in the statute.Therefore, the court continued, if an employer refuses to hire someone because it perceives the applicant tohave obesity, and the applicant is able to properly perform the job in question, the employer violates the state’sdisability discrimination law. Judge Yu, dissenting, argued that the majority’s holding "ignores the need for anindividualized inquiry" (Taylor v. Burlington Northern Railroad Holdings, Inc., July 11, 2019, Fairhurst, M.).