The Employment Appeal Tribunal has confirmed in a recent case that whilst obesity itself is not considered to be an “impairment” for disability discrimination purposes, if the individual suffers from a number of physical and mental conditions then it is possible that they could be classed as being disabled. Therefore, the duty on an employer to make reasonable adjustments to the employee’s role could arise. Reema Jethwa from our Employment Team looks at the case in further detail.

In the case of Walker v Sita Information Networking Computing Ltd, Mr Walker suffered from a number of different conditions such as asthma, dyslexia, joint problems, depression, diabetes, poor concentration and chronic fatigue syndrome. The combination of these various conditions resulted in him suffering significantly in his day-today life. As the Employment Tribunal was unable to attribute the symptoms to a single recognisable physical or mental clause, the Employment Tribunal regarded his condition to be linked to his obesity as he weighed around 137 kilograms. For this reason, the Employment Tribunal held that he was not disabled.

This decision was overturned by the Employment Appeal Tribunal on the basis that the Employment Tribunal should have regard to the effect of the various impairments on the individual rather than focussing on the cause. In fact, the Employment Appeal Tribunal held that Mr Walker was both physically and mentally impaired and had been for a long time. Although the Employment Appeal Tribunal overturned the original decision, they reiterated that obesity itself is not a disability, however employers should be aware that it may make it more likely that an individual is disabled.

What does this mean for employers?

This case confirms that although obesity itself is not a disability, this does not mean that employers can rely on this to avoid their duty to make reasonable adjustments to an employee’s role. Particularly if the employee is suffering from a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on the employee’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. When assessing whether an employee is disabled or not, it is important to focus on the effect of the impairment rather than the cause - especially where the employee is suffering from various physical and mental problems which is compounded by their obesity.

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