Blatant Discrimination Against Fat People

This article from The Career And Education Center has me so stunned I had to snap my mouth shut with my hand. I found it at Brutal Women, who found it at Big Fat Blog.

Here are reasons employers gave for not hiring fat people. These people chose to remain anonymous. The in-your-face unapologetic attitude is disgusting.

"I can give you twenty reasons why I didn't hire someone," says Scott, a vice president at a sports marketing firm. "I see more people than I can hire for any job. We work with professional sports and professional athletes. I want people on my team who are really into sports—both as fans and participants. We do lifestyle marketing, and your lifestyle is important if you're going to fit in here and be successful. If you're fat—and I don't mean you need to lose a few pounds like most of us—if you're huge, you aren't getting the job. Period."

"I think fat people are weak people," says Tom who works for a major bank. "I was a fat kid. I mean, fat. I was teased. I never made teams, but when I got to college I decided to do something about it. I'm six feet tall and big so I can carry a lot of weight, and I did—about 280 pounds. But I'm now at 195. I run four times a week. I lift. I play sports. It takes a lot of work and dedication—and I can't have cookies any more. But I saw the moment I started to lose weight I got respect. And I started to respect myself. I had to realize that the price I'm going to pay to be successful is that I have to drive past McDonald's, and there's nothing I used to love like a three-Big Mac meal. Now, I realize not everyone is like me—I know how difficult it is to lose that kind of weight, so I'm sympathetic—but I don't want real fat people around me. Whether it's fair or not, and I know it's not, I can't get past that. I just remember how much pain I was in, and I know I couldn't look at that every day. So, I go with another candidate."

Todd, who is an ex-Marine and runs the accounting department of a California-based production company says, "My belief is, if you're fat, you're lazy. I'm completely with Jesse Ventura on that. Is that horrible? Maybe. Is it fair? Life's not fair. That notion was burned into me by all my teachers and the Corps. So I look at a fat person, and we're talking obese here, and I think, 'I can't work with that person. They can't take care of themselves; are they really going to be able to handle the pressures of this job?'"

"So many of the people I work with are fat," says Anne who works for city government in the northeast. She herself says she battles with the same ten pounds, as many people do, but she is within the target range for her five-foot-two frame. "I could be sued for saying this," she continues, "but the fat people just don't work as hard or produce as much. I'll never hire a fat person, and I'll never say that for attribution. Whether true or not for the overweight population as a whole, I can't say, but it sure is my experience, and I hire based on my experience."

What kind of advice did this article give fat people? Did it acknowledge the blatant discrimination they would experience when being looked down upon by people such as those quoted above? Did it discuss grievance procedures for people who are being discriminated against; who are called lazy and weak because they are fat? No, it didn't. It placed the responsibility for the situation squarely on their shoulders. They should see a doctor. They should diet and exercise. Being fat isn't the issue. Being discriminated against and thought of by prospective employers who won't even look at your resume or learn about how you are qualified for the job as soon as they get one look at you is. Being insulted with assumptions that you are lazy and weak and can't take care of yourself and don't contribute as much and don't produce as much are the issues.