Classifying Obesity as a Disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act: How Seff v. Broward County is Incongruent with Recent ADA Litigation

Authors

Maura Flaherty McCoy

Abstract

This Note discusses how employer wellness programs are potential breeding grounds for Americans with Disabilities Act discrimination claims in light of recent ADA cases relating to obesity and how courts’ treatment of the safe harbor provision of the ADA is incongruent with the broadening of ADA claims. It looks at the provisions of the ADA and how courts have traditionally defined “disability” in obesity cases, describes the ADA safe harbor provision, and discusses the advent of corporate wellness programs. This Note then analyzes Seff v. Broward County, the most notable wellness program case to-date, and how the court’s decision reveals a disconnect between increasing leniency in ADA obesity claims and the safe harbor provisions protecting wellness programs.

Recommended Citation

Maura F. McCoy, Classifying Obesity as a Disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act: How Seff v. Broward County is Incongruent with Recent ADA Litigation, 64 Cath. U. L. Rev. 539 (2015).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.edu/lawreview/vol64/iss2/12