September 16, 2019

A federal appeals court has refused to revive an employee's suit accusing a past employer of illegally firing him because he was morbidly obese. The court stated that the plaintiff could not show that he was fired due to his weight, and in doing so failed to address the broader issue of whether obesity qualifies as a protected disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act. The case is Valtierra v. Medtronic Inc., 2019 U.S. App. Lexis 24738.

Jose Valtierra weighed 300 lbs when he began working for Medtronic Inc. in 2004 as a facility maintenance technician. By 2014 his weight had increased to more than 370 lbs. In May 2014 Valtierra's supervisor noticed that he seemed to be having trouble walking and had begun using the elevator as opposed to the stairs. The supervisor became concerned about Valtierra's ability to do his job, and checked the records to make sure that his assignments had been completed. The supervisor discovered that, although Valtierra had left for vacation the day before, he had reported completion of 12 assignments that should have taken a very significant amount of time. Upon return from his vacation, the supervisor asked Valtierra about the assignments, and Valtierra admitted that he had not performed all the work, but that he intended to finish the work when he returned from vacation. Medtronic terminated his employment, citing falsification of records as the reasoning behind the termination. Valtierra filed suit on the basis that he had a disability under the ADA and his termination was unlawful discrimination under the act.