7th Circuit opinion places new light on ADA, obesity

Lawyers' Forum

By Norman T. Finkel

Norman T. Finkel is a commercial litigator and a legal and business adviser at Schoenberg Finkel Newman & Rosenberg LLC. He serves as general corporate counsel for companies, large and small, and serves as trial and appellate counsel in federal and state courts nationwide. He is also an adjunct professor of law at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, where he teaches trial advocacy.

Posted August 21, 2019 3:51 PM

Updated August 26, 2019 12:28 PM

On June 12, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found for the first time that extreme obesity qualifies as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act — but only if caused by an underlying physiological disorder.The case comes at a time when views on disability are evolving. The American Medical Association designated obesity as a disease in 2013. While the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and various federal courts have decided that obesity alone should entitle afflicted workers to certain …

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