Hospital bans obese job applicants

[ffemt8978]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-weight-row-BANNING-obese-job-applicants.html

A Texas hospital is under fire for banning job applicants from employment for being obese.

The Citizens Medical Center in the south eastern town of Victoria requires all potential employees to have a body mass index – a formula used to determine fat – of less than 35, according to its CEO.

The figure translates to a weight of 210lbs for someone who is 5ft 5in, and ensures employees fit with a 'specific mental projection of the job of a healthcare professional', the hospital chief, David Brown, said.
...
Mr Brown told the newspaper the regulation is based largely on 'appearance', rather than fears of high insurance premiums for potentially unhealthy employees.

 

[Anjel]

Uh yea. Is this for real?

Lets see how well that works out for them.

 

[usalsfyre]

Pretty sure this isn't gonna go well....

 

[ffemt8978]

Apparently this isn't their first dance with discrimination claims. From the article

In 2007, a memo Brown sent expressing a 'sense of disgust' he felt that more 'Middle-Eastern-born' physicians were demanding leadership roles at the institution prompted claims of racial discrimination, the Tribune reports.

The note became the basis of an ongoing litigation Brown is not at liberty to discuss.

 

[Aidey]

From a practical standpoint I can kind of see their point. Healthcare costs are huge issues for employers, and they are going to be looking for ways to limit those costs. I anticipate seeing more surcharges placed on people who smoke, are overweight, have uncontrolled diabetes, HTN or cholesterol etc. Especially if the employee has undergone medical counseling to fix those issues and hasn't been able to.

I can also see an employer making a very convincing argument that it isn't that different than refusing to hire employees who smoke, and that is something done nationally. Both cause significant health issues and raise costs for employers. Both create image problems for healthcare providers who are trying to convince their patients to stop smoking and lose weight. Both are fixable*. Both are optional*.

From a practical standpoint this is going to turn into an effing mess for the hospital.



*Excluding the very small % of people who are overweight due to a medical condition or medication side effect.

 

[bigbaldguy]

When I first started working for the airlines 17 years ago we had to go in once a month and be weighed. If we were over our max we went on weight check. If we failed 3 weigh ins we were fired. When I was hired I was 20, I'm 6'4" and my maximum allowable weight at the time was 199 1/4 pounds. To be hired I had to drop 52 pounds. The weight restrictions were even tighter for females.

 

[ffemt8978]

From a practical standpoint I can kind of see their point. Healthcare costs are huge issues for employers, and they are going to be looking for ways to limit those costs. I anticipate seeing more surcharges placed on people who smoke, are overweight, have uncontrolled diabetes, HTN or cholesterol etc. Especially if the employee has undergone medical counseling to fix those issues and hasn't been able to.

I can also see an employer making a very convincing argument that it isn't that different than refusing to hire employees who smoke, and that is something done nationally. Both cause significant health issues and raise costs for employers. Both create image problems for healthcare providers who are trying to convince their patients to stop smoking and lose weight. Both are fixable*. Both are optional*.

From a practical standpoint this is going to turn into an effing mess for the hospital.



*Excluding the very small % of people who are overweight due to a medical condition or medication side effect.

Maybe, but the article specifically quotes their CEO stating that it is for appearances only and NOT a health issue.

 

[Aidey]

Equating it to piercings and tattoos is a different approach, but still legal in Texas. While people might be willing to take the advice of a fat chef, plenty of people won't listen to a fat doctor.

 

[Tigger]

When I first started working for the airlines 17 years ago we had to go in once a month and be weighed. If we were over our max we went on weight check. If we failed 3 weigh ins we were fired. When I was hired I was 20, I'm 6'4" and my maximum allowable weight at the time was 199 1/4 pounds. To be hired I had to drop 52 pounds. The weight restrictions were even tighter for females.

I'm assuming that the airlines stopped this practice, when did that happen?

For what it's worth, I have no issues with this practice. I was going to make the argument that it's similar in many cases to smoking, but Aidey pretty much summed it up better than I could.

 

[bigbaldguy]

I'm assuming that the airlines stopped this practice, when did that happen?

For what it's worth, I have no issues with this practice. I was going to make the argument that it's similar in many cases to smoking, but Aidey pretty much summed it up better than I could.

About 3 months after I was hired luckily. Shortly before I was hired my airline lost a lawsuit concerning height restrictions. Previous to this they would not hire anyone who was under 5'6" or taller than 6'1". I suspect I was hired because of "height affirmative action".

 

[Aidey]

It may have stopped officially, but when was the last time anyone saw a fat flight attendant? Really, when you think about it there are tons of employers who hire people who fit their image they just usually aren't so blunt about it. Casinos, resorts, spas/salons, nightclubs, gyms, fitness stores (ie GNC), REI*, any retail clothing store....



*I love REI, but it is basically mandatory that you use all sorts of different outdoor equipment if you work there, which eliminates the majority of people fitting the hospital's criteria.

 

[18G]

Surprisingly, I am kinda on the hospital's side. I don't think I see a problem with wanting employees who are not obese. As long as they use a formula that is standard for everyone I don't see it as a problem. Some hospital's have placed smoking restrictions on their employees where they will actually test them for nicotine.

When you need a paycheck to pay your bills, that will work as great motivation to slim down and stay that way.

 

[Shishkabob]

"Equal protection under the law" and "equal employment" don't protect the obese.

 

[bigbaldguy]

Folks lets not make this a "we don't like overweight people thread". Remember "big" people have feelings too.

 

[adamjh3]

I'm disgusted by every fat EMT I see, especially the females.

Can't imagine how you feel about the majority of your patients.

 

[Shishkabob]

Can't imagine how you feel about the majority of your patients.

To be fair, I don't like lifting people, risking my back. The bigger they are, the less I like having to do it. If a patient is physically able, I find ways to minimize my having to lift them.

 

[Pneumothorax]

From a practical standpoint I can kind of see their point. Healthcare costs are huge issues for employers, and they are going to be looking for ways to limit those costs. I anticipate seeing more surcharges placed on people who smoke, are overweight, have uncontrolled diabetes, HTN or cholesterol etc. Especially if the employee has undergone medical counseling to fix those issues and hasn't been able to.

I can also see an employer making a very convincing argument that it isn't that different than refusing to hire employees who smoke, and that is something done nationally. Both cause significant health issues and raise costs for employers. Both create image problems for healthcare providers who are trying to convince their patients to stop smoking and lose weight. Both are fixable*. Both are optional*.

From a practical standpoint this is going to turn into an effing mess for the hospital.



*Excluding the very small % of people who are overweight due to a medical condition or medication side effect.

Exactly. I think it's probably a little bit of them not wanting to have such high insurance rates too bc their employees are overweight/obese. But like u said, I'm not likely to listen to a doc/nurse who's telling me to stop eating whos popping the seams of their scrubs. Or saying dont smoke it's bad for u and they reek.

 

[Sasha]

I'm disgusted by every fat EMT I see, especially the females.

Don't you sound like a peach.

I am really tired of the emphasis people put on looks. I know fat employees who can do their job better than skinny ones.

As long as someone is able to safely do their job then they should be allowed to safely do their job.

 

[adamjh3]

To be fair, I don't like lifting people, risking my back. The bigger they are, the less I like having to do it. If a patient is physically able, I find ways to minimize my having to lift them.

I don't think I've ever heard of a healthcare professional that looked a patient and said "gee, I can't wait to move him!"

I'm fat. I've struggled with my weight since I was a wee one. I was born into a family where food and socializing go hand in hand, you can't really have one without the other.

I've fluctuated between being 60+lbs overweight to being right at my ideal body weight just in the couple short years I've been in EMS. Currently I sit at about 30lbs too fat.

I'm active, I lift weights, I hike, I do body weight exercises with my crews at the station. My mile time probably sucks, but I've never been much of a runner. On the other side of the coin, I like food. A lot. Good food is to me, by definition, a drug.

So yes, I'm sitting at 30lbs heavier than I should be, but I'm more capable of doing the physical aspect of this job than my current partner who is 6'1, 170, lbs, with about 6% body fat. He's skinny, he's got a six pack. He can't lift :censored::censored::censored::censored:.

I'm all for PATs and the like, but an outright ban on people because they don't fit a numbered chart? Please...

 

[johnrsemt]

I also, am overweight: I exercise, I walk my dogs (200lbs of dogs) 3-7 days a week. I can hike or backpack 15+miles a day;

I just have a problem losing the weight. But I can do my job; people who are overweight who can't do their job are the ones that I have a problem with, just like the ones who are too thin or too short to do the job.

I used to work with a young lady who was in good shape, but she was 4'10 tall and couldn't lift either end of the cot high enough to get it in the truck. That was a problem. company couldn't let her go because she cried EEO. So they ended up putting her in dispatch with a pay raise even though she couldn't dispatch worth anything.