Obesity discrimination: UK disability laws incompatible with EU directive

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UK laws preventing discrimination against people based on their size should be reformed, according to analysis of obesity discrimination made by an employment tribunal judge. Philip Rostant, who is also the national training director of the Employment Tribunals of England and Wales, co-wrote an academic paper, ‘All About that Bass’? Is Non‐Ideal‐Weight Discrimination Unlawful in the UK? in the Modern Law Review. The paper explains that the Equality Act 2010 offers only a “very tenuous route for protection” because the Act is largely based on a "medical model" of disability. Currently, people who can show that their weight "creates a substantial functional deficit" can seek redress through UK disability discrimination legislation. However in EU law, explain the authors, the direction of travel is away from this medical model towards a "social model" of disability. “Crucially,