Overweight New Yorkers are now a legally protected class, according to legislation signed by New York City Mayor Eric Adams last week.
During a signing ceremony on May 26, Adams said the legislation “will help level the playing field for all New Yorkers.”
The rule would bar individuals from being discriminated against due to their height and weight in employment, housing, and public accommodation.
Adams said the bill does provide exemptions allowing employers to deny employment to individuals if their height or weight prevents them from “performing essential requirements of the job.”
The bill was sponsored by New York City Councilmember Shaun Abreau.
“Size discrimination is a social justice issue and a public health threat,” Abreau said, according to nyc.gov. “As the global beacon of tolerance, it is only right that New York City is leading the national effort to end size discrimination with the signing of this law today.”
Josh Kellerman, Director of Public Policy for the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union, spoke publicly about the legislation, thanking the mayor and saying the rule would “change lives.”
“It will raise this issue nationally and internationally,” Kellerman said. “It will provide new economic opportunities for people, and it will begin changing our culture and how we treat people who are fat, little, or otherwise don’t fit in the mold our society pushes us into.”
Tigress Osborn, chair of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance, also lauded the legislation.
“This will ripple across the globe in terms of showing to people all over the world that discrimination against people based on their body size is wrong and is something that we can change,” Osborn said.
When asked if the legislation would “protect” obesity instead of fighting against the negative health issues of being overweight, Adams said the city will continue to promote a “progressive health agenda,” but also said that “science has shown that body type is not a connection to if you are healthy or unhealthy.”
