Just when I thought I had heard it all!!!!

The EEOC policy states:

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission enforces Federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. These laws protect you against employment discrimination when it involves:

• Unfair treatment because of your race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.
• Harassment by managers, co-workers, or others in your workplace, because of your race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, age (40 or older), disability or genetic information.
• Denial of a reasonable workplace accommodation that you need because of your religious beliefs or disability.
• Retaliation because you complained about job discrimination, or assisted with a job discrimination investigation or lawsuit.

According to Texas Tribune, a Victoria hospital, who is already undergoing fire due to a discrimination case filed by doctors of Indian descent, has recently instituted a new hiring policy that bans applicants who are too overweight.

Citizens Medical Center policy, which was instituted a little over a year ago, requires that applicants and potential employees’ body mass index should be 35 or less - which is 210 pounds for someone who is 5-foot-5, and 245 pounds for someone who is 5-foot-10. It also states that employee’s physique “should fit with a representational image or specific mental projection of the job of a healthcare professional,” including an appearance “free from distraction” for hospital patients. Really? So if you’re overweight that automatically means you’re a “distraction” to society? WOW!!!

The hospital chief went on to add to this mess by saying:

“The majority of our patients are over 65, and they have expectations that cannot be ignored in terms of personal appearance,” “We have the ability as an employer to characterize our process and to have a policy that says what’s best for our business and for our patients.”

Since it’s clearly not stated in the EEOC policy as a form of discrimination, I’m sure these folks will get away with this new policy they’ve decided to enforce because technically it’s not against the law. Only the state of Michigan and six cities in the US ban discrimination against hiring overweight people so Texas doesn’t fall into this category.

“In Texas, employers cannot discriminate against employees because of their race, age or religion,” said DeDe Church, an Austin-based employment lawyer. “Weight is not one of those protected categories.”

WOW!!! This is just seriously ridiculous if you ask me… What are you thoughts????

Incoming search terms:

• can managers refuse to hire the obese