CTA Bus Driver's Obesity Not A Disability Under ADA, Judges Rule

CHICAGO — A federal appeals court last week upheld a ruling against a former Chicago Transit Authority bus driver who said he was prevented from working and eventually fired for being too fat. A three-judge panel of the U.S. 7th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the driver failed to show that his obesity resulted from an underlying condition or disorder and that obesity alone does not qualify as a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Mark Richardson began working for CTA in a temporary capacity in 1993 and operated buses full-time from August 1999 to February 2012. CTA doctors reported his weight grew from 350 pounds to 566 pounds between 2005 and 2009, according to the opinion. In 2010, he was placed on medical leave as an eligible union employee after CTA's third-party medical provider found he needed to get his blood pressure under control before returning to work.

The medical provider eventually found him physically fit enough to work as a bus driver, but CTA requires a "special assessment" driving test on six types of buses for all bus operators weighing more than 400 pounds, larger than bus seats are designed to accommodate, according to the opinion. The assessment found he could be trusted to drive safely but noted several safety concerns. In response, CTA's head of instruction found it would be unsafe to allow Richardson to drive a bus in his current condition.

CTA officials offered to put Richardson back on medical leave so he could "work with doctors to lose weight and be subject to periodic monitoring" in exchange for giving up his right to sue. Richardson rejected the offer and was placed back on leave before being terminated in March 2011. According his former employer, Richardson did not submit any medical documentation to extend his leave.

Richardson filed a wrongful termination suit against the CTA in March 2016, accusing it of violating the ADA because it "refused to allow [him] to return to work because it regarded him as being too obese to work as a bus operator."

In November 2017, District Judge Robert Blakey decided the case in favor of CTA, finding that federal anti-discrimination law and regulations require those filing suit under the ADA to "show that their severe obesity is caused by an underlying physiological disorder or condition," and Richardson did not, according to the opinion by Judge Joel Flaum, who was joined Judge Michael Kanne and Judge Michael Scudder.

Some scientific organizations submitted briefs to the court on Richardson's behalf suggesting that because obesity is considered a disease, by policymakers and the medical community, it should count as a physiological disorder. The judges held the "unavoidable, nonrealistic result" of their argument would be roughly 40 percent of U.S. adults considered disabled under the ADA.

"Richardson does not present any evidence suggesting an underlying physiological disorder or condition caused his extreme obesity. Without such evidence, we cannot call Richardson's extreme obesity a physical impairment within the meaning of the ADA and the [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission] regulation," the appellate judges said.

The former bus driver further argued that his CTA boss thought his obesity to be a physical impairment covered by the ADA, even if it actually was not. The court found that he did not provide evidence "to permit a reasonable jury to infer that CTA perceived his extreme obesity was caused by an underlying physiological disorder or condition."

According to the opinion, only a small number of federal trial courts have found extreme obesity to be an ADA impairment without evidence of a physiological cause. Three other appellate courts have previously agreed that obesity must be shown to result from an underlying condition or disorder to qualify under federal anti-discrimination law.