Obese Norfolk Southern Applicant Can Pursue Disability Bias Suit

Norfolk Southern Railway Co. must face a job applicant’s claim that his offer was pulled because his obesity led the company to perceive him as disabled, a federal judge ruled.

Matthew Sturgill’s second amended complaint states a “regarded as” disabled claim under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia said Aug. 7.

Obesity alone isn’t a disability under the ADA. A worker must instead show the obesity is caused by an underlying physiological condition.

The railroad has a policy of not hiring applicants with high BMIs because it believes some will have ...