When Linda Harrison was terminated from her job at a residential treatment facility in 2007, she weighed more than 500 pounds. According to a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), she was fired because of her disability, severe obesity, even though she could perform the essential functions of her job. Five years later, the company settled the disability discrimination suit for $125,000.
In the case, EEOC v. Resources for Human Development Inc., 827 F.Supp.2d 688 (E.D. La. 2011), the court rejected the treatment center’s arguments that severe obesity without an underlying physiological disorder did not qualify as a disability. According to the court, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) applied in this case because severe obesity can be a disability, and Harrison was a qualifying individual with a disability who suffered an “adverse employment decision” because of her disability.