Two cities in Wisconsin and Illinois could provide a national model for combating workplace discrimination because of obesity, said a Vanderbilt University researcher.
Urbana, Ill., and Madison, Wis., are among six cities across the United States that prohibit discrimination against people because of their weight, much as Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on race, sex, color religion or national origin. The others are Binghamton, N.Y., San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Calif., and Washington, D.C. The state of Michigan provides similar protections.
“The evidence suggests that at least two of the local laws – in Urbana and Madison – have helped,” said Jennifer Shinall, who recently earned her J.D. and Ph.D in law and economics from Vanderbilt.
Shinall’s work-in-progress paper, “Legal Largesse or Big, Fat Failure: Do Weight-Discrimination Laws Improve Employment Outcomes for the Obese?” will be submitted for publication in the fall, and can be viewed at the Social Science Research Network.
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