Can You Believe it?
A Hospital Has Said Only Thin People Can Work Here!
It is NOT illegal. Just as smoking has become a condition for not hiring, a Texas hospital has said that it is not going to hire anybody –doctors, healthcare staff, nurses—who are overweight. If your BMI is over 35 you cannot get hired. And this does not violate your civil rights. The only state with a law about discrimination against overweight people is Michigan.
Maybe this is a good thing to set the right example for patients. It’s the old saying “don’t do as I do, do as I say to do”. And maybe overweight employees have more sickness, absenteeism, and specialized needs. But, on the other hand, there are other healthcare risks that may be as important. And who will monitor those? Does that mean any hospital employee that rides a motorcycle to work cannot be employed? Or those who do not wear their seat belts? How about those employees who own a gun?
Patients who desire a thin physician can probably find one without the hospital’s assistance. But it is an employer’s right to employ only those it deems acceptable. The definition of acceptable keeps changing.
