coworker is calling me a cow

[cbg]

Let's not get too carried away here. First, while I acknowledge that morbid obesity can be covered under the ADA, we don't know that this poster is morbidly obese, and if it she is, that protection has more to do with her ability to do her job than it does rude comments. Next, it is up to the employee to self-identify as disabled if she wants an accommodation; it is not up to the employer to decide she is disabled.

Yes, I would think more of her employer if he told the co-worker to stop teasing her. But at the same time, the poster needs to stand up for herself instead of asking someone else to do it for her. She doesn't ever mention telling this git to his face to stop it; just complaining to others and expecting them to tell him.

Coming to you straight from a lot closer to 40 years in HR than I want to admit.

 

[CTU]

Wow, it's bad enough to be insulted at work but it's worse when you come here for advice and a senior member continues to insult you and make fun of the situation you're in.

Consider the source.

 

[TigerD]

Let's not get too carried away here. First, while I acknowledge that morbid obesity can be covered under the ADA, we don't know that this poster is morbidly obese, and if it she is, that protection has more to do with her ability to do her job than it does rude comments. Next, it is up to the employee to self-identify as disabled if she wants an accommodation; it is not up to the employer to decide she is disabled.

Yes, I would think more of her employer if he told the co-worker to stop teasing her. But at the same time, the poster needs to stand up for herself instead of asking someone else to do it for her. She doesn't ever mention telling this git to his face to stop it; just complaining to others and expecting them to tell him.

Coming to you straight from a lot closer to 40 years in HR than I want to admit.

This post is exactly why the OP needs to talk to an attorney. Would your advice be the same if the OP was wheelchair bound and the co-worker called the OP "wheelie"?

The ADAAA added a “regarded as” disabled component to disability discrimination law, which may have interesting consequences for obesity-related disability discrimination suits. Under the “regarded as” definition, an employee is protected from discrimination on the basis of a belief that the employee is disabled, regardless of whether the employee is actually disabled or not. The OP doesn't have to request an accommodation to be protected from workplace harassment and discrimination. It is enough that the OP is regarded as disabled.

TD

 

[eerelations]

This post is exactly why the OP needs to talk to an attorney. Would your advice be the same if the OP was wheelchair bound and the co-worker called the OP "wheelie"?

The ADAAA added a “regarded as” disabled component to disability discrimination law, which may have interesting consequences for obesity-related disability discrimination suits. Under the “regarded as” definition, an employee is protected from discrimination on the basis of a belief that the employee is disabled, regardless of whether the employee is actually disabled or not. The OP doesn't have to request an accommodation to be protected from workplace harassment and discrimination. It is enough that the OP is regarded as disabled.

TD

I have always been about 20 to 30 pounds overweight. That's just me. And that said, I have never been morbidly obese (I am 5' 10" tall so can easily carry an extra 20 to 30 pounds without being "morbidly obese"). And I have always suffered cow-type comments at work, and even backhanded kindly comments (like "When are you due?" and "Liposuction's gotten real cheap these days, I can refer you to the man who did me if you like."). But because I am not, nor have I ever been, morbidly obese, I have had no legal recourse to correct this treatment.

TigerD, unless the OP tells us that she's really morbidly obese, we have to assume that she's just a bit overweight. And the ADA can't do anything with that.

 

[cbg]

I am quite aware of the "regarded as" provision and I still say that we've seen nothing to indicate that the ADA applies here. Not everyone who is overweight is morbidly obese and not everyone who is morbidly obese is covered by the ADA. Without further information from the OP I stand by my response.

 

[TheGeekess]

I'm an (old) short fat chick. And I tell people that, so they can't say much more.

 

[TigerD]

I am quite aware of the "regarded as" provision and I still say that we've seen nothing to indicate that the ADA applies here. Not everyone who is overweight is morbidly obese and not everyone who is morbidly obese is covered by the ADA. Without further information from the OP I stand by my response.

It is unlikely after the reception the OP got that she would say she is morbidly obese.

But I have a family member that has suffered with being severely obese her entire life and have little patience for attacks on people like her.

TD

 

[cbg]

I agree that in a perfect world such attempts would never happen.

But I still say the odds are better that she does not have any kind of claim that that she does.