EU ready with decision on firing of overweight childminder

“If you fire someone, it should be for professional reasons,” says the former childminder Karsten Kaltoft to Fagbladet FOA. But he was fired in November 2010 by  Billund Municipality because of his weight of approximately 160 kilos.

And both he and FOA think that is discrimination.

Judicial 3-stage rocket
On July 17, it will be made known if the firing was in order in the eyes of the EU.

In the first instance, it is the Advocate-General who will render an advisory opinion. His opinions are usually followed by the EU Court, who will consider the case in the fall.

Kolding Municipal Court will thereafter resume its handling of the case. FOA has sued Billund Municipality on Karsten Kaltoft’s behalf, and asked the local court to present the case to the EU Court.

Widespread interest in the case
The court will decide if obesity can be a handicap and thus covered by the EU’s legislation prohibiting discrimination “under any circumstances”.

Danish legislation prohibits discrimination on the basis of, among other things, gender, religion and handicap, but not obesity.

The case can have consequences for Danish law, but it is also being followed with great interest in other countries.

Employers deny discrimination
Local Government Denmark (LGDK), the interest group and member authority of Danish municipalities which is assisting Billund Municipality with the case, denies that Karsten Kaltoft has been discriminated against.

“It is in LGDK’s view legal and reasonable that a person's physical capabilities are included in the assessment of the employee's ability to hold a job," said Karsten Thystrup, head of Law and the EU for LGDK, earlier to Fagbladet FOA.

49-year-old Karsten Kaltoft was permanently employed by Billund Municipality for over 14 years. All sides agree that he fulfilled the requirements of his job to the letter.

“I was very overweight when I was hired and I was the same when I was fired, but I’ve always done my job the way I was supposed to,” he says.

Translation from Danish by Mark Nixon.