Tipping the Scales of Justice: Fighting Weight Based Discrimination

What rights, if any, do fat people have? If a child is obese, are the parents legally responsible? Can employers treat overweight employees as different, or disabled? Should fat people be protected by disability laws? Cases of illegal hiring practices, workplace prejudice, harassment, unfair treatment, medical malpractice, and denial of public access are being filed in increasing numbers as the nation continues to obsess over, and misunderstand, weight. Two events in 1998-the controversial felony prosecution of a mother whose child died of obesity-related complications, and the National Institutes of Health declaration of a national weight standard-forced the weight debate to a new level of public awareness. Very little literature on the law and weight exists, so each new case is a potential precedent-setter. Tipping the Scales of Justice presents actual cases and the stories behind the legal arguments, showing for the first time the varied and surprising ways that fat has become a courtroom topic. An attorney who focuses on weight-related cases, Sondra Solovay details court attitudes toward weight in relation to employment and discrimination law, child/family law, disability law, civil rights, minorities, public policy, diets and exercise, and much more, while intermingling a personal narrative on major cases and their outcomes. This fascinating book will be essential for law courses and libraries, as well as a one-of-a-kind perspective for anyone concerned about weight as a legal issue.

Sondra Solovay (Berkeley, CA), a graduate of the University of California Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law, is an attorney and noted activist. Her media experience includes Court TV, CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, Associated Press, and much more.