Would you hire a morbidly obese person?

[Anonymous]

I can't think of a single overweight person in senior leadership at the Fortune 1000 company I work for. We currently have over 20,000 employees. All of our officers are attractive and fit and there are several marathon runners and tri-athletes in management.

About a year ago, we were interviewing to fill a new corporate counsel position. We were down to two equally qualified candidates. One was attractive and fit, the other was overweight, but not morbidly so. Candidate A ended up winning the job because "she would present better." So, yes, looks matter but we all know that already.

[Anonymous]

no, and I hire a lot.
Morbidly obese = health issues = increased health insurance and potential disability issues

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:no, and I hire a lot.
Morbidly obese = health issues = increased health insurance and potential disability issues

= unknown extra costs for the employer

[Anonymous]

Isn't the woman from Wardrobe Oxygen in IT? She's pretty fat.

[Anonymous]

... how does hiring a fat person increase your insurance costs as an employer?? I have never been weighed before getting any health insurance quote...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It would impact my decision, yes. I see morbid obesity as a huge charachter flaw and would have concerns about their ability to perform.

Same reason I wouldn't hire a woman wearing a massive engagement ring or 5 inch heels.

This is why I have never worn my massive ring to interviews, especially if the interviewer is a woman. In fact I try and look as plain Jane as possible. I'll wear to work after the offer tho.

I've done the same, and also completely foregone my wedding ring during interviews.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I don't even like to hire overweight people who aren't morbidly obese. It shows lack of self-discipline. It shows laziness and a lack of self-respect. Not the kind of people I want working for me.

How do you know they are overweight because of lack of self discipline and self respect?
How shallow can you be?

In the infantry, there are ZERO obese soldiers. I wonder why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For my floor? No. At a moments notice, staff has to run to an alarm, sometime quickly changing direction. Before I was a manager, 2 morbidly obese people were hired. If an alarm goes off in close proximity they will run and then be winded. If one goes off all the way down the hall, they don't run. The time difference between walking to an alarm and running is all the time needed for a patient to be on the floor.

There are also issues, that depending on the amount of equipment a patient has, someone who is morbidly obese cannot properly assist the patient because they cannot fit.

The issue is not the obesity, but the ability to respond to an alarm.

I have been borderline obese my entire adult life (BMI > 30). But, my weight never impacted my physical. I am 6'2", 260. Lowest weight as an adult was 230, highest was 270. No, I can not run a marathon. But, I can run 100m. Today, I am considered morbidly obese (BMI 260, but with a medical conditions; they were largely genetic).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:... how does hiring a fat person increase your insurance costs as an employer?? I have never been weighed before getting any health insurance quote...

Small employers have a small group. One person with higher risk will impact everyone.

[Anonymous]

Health costs are higher with obese people, sure. But why not do genetic screening and other medical tests. I can guarantee you my BRCA and cholesterol gene impacts my health cost more than my weight.

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't hire someone who is obese. They are clearly lazy and lacking in self control.

[Anonymous]

I'm overweight myself and know it's a problem. There as lots of qualified candidates that aren't so overweight so why should someone risk possible issues? There is no upside unless you're really standing out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I don't even like to hire overweight people who aren't morbidly obese. It shows lack of self-discipline. It shows laziness and a lack of self-respect. Not the kind of people I want working for me.

How do you know they are overweight because of lack of self discipline and self respect?
How shallow can you be?

In the infantry, there are ZERO obese soldiers. I wonder why?

Because they don't hire the obese persons. Who would let a morbidly obese person to become a soldier?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I don't even like to hire overweight people who aren't morbidly obese. It shows lack of self-discipline. It shows laziness and a lack of self-respect. Not the kind of people I want working for me.

I hope you don't hire people who are smokers, who curse, who sleep around, who chew with their mouths open, etc. All THOSE things show a lack of self-respect as well.

I am overweight mostly because I work too much. I have a limited amount of self discipline and most of it goes to my job.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Health costs are higher with obese people, sure. But why not do genetic screening and other medical tests. I can guarantee you my BRCA and cholesterol gene impacts my health cost more than my weight.

I think it depends on the insurer. I posted earlier that my sister had trouble finding insurance that would cover an obese employee of hers. I don't know exactly how that became an issue (e.g. whether the insurance they provided required a physical or something), but it was pre-ACA. I think the wide availability of genetic testing has come about post-ACA, so insurers haven't had the option to charge more for people based on these predispositions. It'll be interesting to see what happens with whatever reforms TrumpCare implements, because at a minimum I think it will include an option for insurers to charge more to higher-risk people (even if they are still required to provide a plan).