Plan B Forum

Fatness "can constitute a disability" for the purposes of European Union equality at work legislation, Europe's highest court has ruled.


The judgment means British companies will be required to treat obese workers as "disabled", providing them with larger seats, special parking spaces and other facilities. “Obesity can constitute a ‘disability’ within the meaning of the Employment Equality Directive,” the European Court of Justice ruled. “While no general principle of EU law prohibits, in itself, discrimination on grounds of obesity, that condition falls within the concept of ‘disability’ where, under particular conditions, it hinders the full and effective participation of the person concerned in professional life on an equal basis with other workers.”

The EU court ruling, which is binding on British employers, follows a case brought by Karsten Kaltoft, a Danish childminder, who claimed he was sacked by his local authority employer because he was so overweight. Mr Kaltoft, who now has a different job as a lorry driver, hailed the ruling as victory against his sacking by his former employer, the local authority in the small Danish town of Billund. "It is good that we now recognise that obesity can be a handicap, and I hope that municipality realise that it was not okay to fire me,” he said. "I never saw it as a requirement that I needed to lose weight and never had a feeling that it could cost me the job.”

Important to the ruling, is the EU court’s judgement that the origin of the disability is irrelevant even if someone's gross obesity is caused by overeating or gluttony. “The concept of ‘disability’ within the meaning of the directive must be understood as referring to a limitation which results in particular from long-term physical, mental or psychological impairments which may hinder the full and effective participation of the person concerned in professional life on an equal basis with other workers,” said the court “The directive has the object of implementing equal treatment and aims in particular to enable a person with a disability to have access to or participate in employment. In addition, it would run counter to the aim of the directive if its application was dependent on the origin of the disability.”

Shock poll shows voters believe Ukip is to the left of the Tories

Sunday 14 December 2014

Voters see Ukip as more left wing than the Conservative Party in a shock poll finding that will fuel concerns among Ed Miliband's allies that Nigel Farage is "parking his tanks on Labour's lawn".

A poll for The Independent on Sunday exposes what Labour strategists have been fearing for months – that voters do not regard Ukip as a party of the far right, but as one closer to the centre ground than the Tories. As such it could win Labour votes in the North. It suggests that attempts by Labour to portray Mr Farage's party as "more Thatcherite than Thatcher" have fallen flat.

The findings by ComRes will also be unsettling for the Conservatives, who must seize support from the centre-ground to win a majority at the next general election.

It is the first time that voters have put Ukip to the left of the Conservatives, in a format in which they are asked to place parties on the left-right political spectrum. The move creates greater uncertainty over the outcome of May's election.

On the traditional measure of voting intention, Labour's lead has slipped to only one point compared with four points last month. Ed Miliband's party is on 34 per cent, while the Conservative Party is up three points to 33 per cent – perhaps as a result of the Prime Minister's speech on immigration, or of giveaways on stamp duty in the Autumn Statement. Ukip is down 1 point to 18 per cent, while the Liberal Democrats are unchanged on 8 per cent. The Green Party, which experienced some uplift a few weeks ago, is down to 2 per cent.

Stupidity such as that shown in the OP is what drives normal people to the metaphorical barricades.

Crackpot wrote:Sounds like just the party for you then....

rubato wrote:Wow, cute graphics are better than thinking when thinking is much too difficult.


Maroooooon.

yrs,
rubato

rubato wrote:

Crackpot wrote:Sounds like just the party for you then....

Sorry sport, I'm not the "hate fat people" party. Nor the "hate immigrants party". That's LJ.

yrs,
rubato

rubato wrote:

Crackpot wrote:Sounds like just the party for you then....

Sorry sport, I'm not the "hate fat people" party. Nor the "hate immigrants party". That's LJ.

yrs,
rubato

rubato wrote:UKIP is a harbor for sadistic morons. That is what you meant. Maybe the problem is that you have too many sadistic morons? Have you ever thought of that?
yrs,
rubato