The European Court of Justice says obesity can be a disability. Source: AP

The judgment comes after the landmark case of a Danish childminder who was believed to be so fat he was unable to tie his own shoelaces, and was sacked by his employers four years ago.

The court, whose laws are binding throughout EU members states such as the UK, said obesity could be considered a disability if it “hinders the full and effective participation of the person concerned in professional life on an equal basis with other workers”.

The ruling could force widespread changes across Europe in the way employers deal with obese staff and what support they might be legally required to offer.

According to the World Health Organisation, whose definition was relied upon in court, a person is obese if their body mass index (BMI) is over 30.

It is calculated by taking a person’s weight in kilograms and dividing it by the square of his or her height in metres.

THE CASE

Karsten Kaltoft filed a suit to obtain damages and interest from the municipality of Billund which employed him in the childminding job, claiming he was the victim of discrimination.

The Danish court asked the Luxembourg court whether EU law itself prohibits discrimination on grounds of obesity and whether obesity can be considered a disability.

The EU court ruled that “no general principle of EU law prohibits, in itself, the discrimination on grounds of obesity,” but it said the “condition falls within the concept of ‘disability’ where... it hinders the full and effective participation of the person concerned in professional life on an equal basis with other workers”.

The EU court said that it was up to the Danish court to “determine whether Kaltoft’s obesity falls within the definition of disability”.

Danish trade union FOA, which was acting on behalf of Kaltoft, described the ruling as “a great victory”.

The town of Billund “has said all along that Karsten Kaltoft’s obesity could never constitute a disability because it was self-inflicted. The European Court of Justice flatly rejects this argument,” the union said in a statement.

Lawyer Jacob Sand, who represented Kaltoft, said the court’s decision protected a “vulnerable group of workers” but admitted that obesity could still be grounds for dismissal in cases where the employee is unable to perform the job they were hired to do.

“A person who is dismissed if they are not competent, capable and available for the position has not been subjected to discrimination because it is only reasonable and factual to dismiss such a person,” he told AFP.

It was only discrimination if “the person can perform his job but may be in need of some help to do it,” he said.