George,

This is outrageous [To State Workers: Get Fit or Lose Job?] and yet another form of discrimination against people who, though they may or may not have been responsible for acquiring their condition to begin with, are now very possibly facing metabolic changes as well as alterations in their nervous systems that make it all but impossible for them to lose a substantial amount of weight and keep it off.

Yes, there are those who can do it, but the vast majority cannot. Unless "fitness" is actually necessary for job performance, requiring employees to meet arbitrary standards of physical performance and/or setting weight limits are simply another employer ploy, piously couching an attempt to save money at the cost of their workers as a public good.

Sooner or later I suspect this will be tested in court, under the provisions of the ADA if nothing else. I hope it's sooner. And I hope the plaintiff has the resources to take it all the way up the line if necessary.

Julie Martin (electronic mail, February 1, 2007)