Protections Against Height and Weight Discrimination
State and local laws often expand beyond federally protected categories and characteristics. Marital status, political affiliation, and genetic information are commonly included protected characteristics. The most recent trend is providing protections based on height or weight.
While Michigan is the only state banning height and weight discrimination, a few states have legislation pending. These protections are more common in local laws, including cities such as San Francisco and New York City, which enacted a law banning discrimination based on height and weight in 2000 and 2024, respectively. Each law provides its own narrow exclusions. Consult qualified legal counsel for questions about whether or how these protections apply to your K-12 school, college, or university.
If your locality prohibits height and weight discrimination, examine the impact on the employment arena.
- Update all discrimination policies and hiring practices to reflect height and weight as protected categories.
- Review handbooks that mention protected categories to ensure the lists include height and weight.
- Confirm job descriptions don’t include requirements related to height or weight.
- Update all trainings — online and in-person curricula — that address discrimination.
Spead the word if your region adds these protections. Include in your outreach:
- Train all staff who are involved in employment-related decisions, including human resources staff, hiring managers, department heads, and other people managers.
- Communicate to employees that height and weight protections apply to actual and perceived characteristics, and that they cover job applicants and current employees.
- Even if your state or locality doesn’t include height and weight as protected characteristics, consider whether you wish to add these traits to your anti-discrimination policy.
More from UE
Checklist: Workplace Anti-Discrimination Policies and Response
Preventing Caste Discrimination on Campus
Prevent Genetic Discrimination in Employment
Preventing Workplace Race Discrimination
Workplace Harassment Prevention Course Collection for Higher Ed
About the Author
-
Christine McHugh, Esq., ARM
Associate Vice President of Risk Management
Christine is responsible for providing day-to-day management of the Risk Management department’s functional operations and works cross-functionally to advance the department’s ability to meet UE goals, objectives, and provide sound thought leadership to the educational community. Before being promoted to the role in June 2024, Christine was a Senior Risk Management Counsel. Her areas of expertise were employment law, sexual assault prevention, protection of minors, traumatic brain injury, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Prior to joining the Risk Research team, she handled UE liability claims for several years. She previously practiced employment and higher education law.