Weight Anti-Discrimination Law?

There may be a new law in Massachusetts – similar to the one in Michigan, it would prohibit discrimination in employment on the basis of height and weight – creating new protected classes.

Is this necessary?

You bet.

As I just posted this week, “beauty bias” and “lookism” in employment create drastic pay disparities and discourage equality in the workforce.

And when it comes to hiring, promotion and earnings, shorter men suffer as do subjectively “less attractive” people.

This is a worldwide phenomena – as I noted the other day, 60 percent of overweight women and 40 percent of overweight men report experiences of employment discrimination. And a study from Huazhong University of Science and Technology found that “each centimetre above the mean adds 1.5-2.2% to a woman’s salary, particularly among middle- and high-wage earners.”

Every centimeter counts, as does every pound!