Is "fattism" a type of unlawful discrimination?

Not at the moment – despite the efforts of the Size Acceptance Movement who held a demonstration outside mayor Boris Johnson’s offices last year calling for legislation to be introduced outlawing discrimination against overweight people. We will keep you posted, but there is no sign of any new legislation in this area on the horizon.

The law in the UK would only protect an overweight employee if their obesity were caused by a disability covered by the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. The new Equality Act 2010 will not change this position.