Posted on 11/19/2004 1:48:50 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
Being obese can affect more than your health, it can affect your livelihood, too.
Misty Watts had worked as a waitress for the Ruby Tuesday restaurant chain for two and a half years last August when she says she was fired out of the blue for being overweight. Just three days earlier the widow, part-time college student, and mother of three was named "Employee of the Month" at the restaurant, but on the day she was terminated a visiting district manager told her she didn't fit the company's image.
"I asked him, 'Are you firing me because I'm fat?'" the 240-pound, 5-feet, 5-inch tall Hickory, North Carolina woman tells WebMD. "And he said, 'Let's just say it's because your shirt doesn't fit and it never will.' When my store manager asked if they could keep me and not hire anyone else with this image the response was, 'No, we have an image to uphold and we have to start now.'"
The Pound Penalty
Weight discrimination in the workplace is common, but the economic cost for individual workers of being obese is not well understood. In a newly published study, finance professors from Middle Tennessee State University sought to quantify this cost using analytical methods that controlled for other variables that have been shown to influence income.
The issue is of growing importance, as more and more Americans find themselves heavy enough to be considered obese. About one in three adults in the U.S. meet the standard, meaning they have a body mass index of 30 or more. There are now more obese adults in this country than cigarette smokers or drug users.
The MTSU researchers found that the economic cost of obesity, or the "pound penalty," as they called it, was much greater for women than for men. But both sexes experienced a persistent obesity-related wage penalty over the first two decades of their careers.
After controlling for other variables influencing income, obesity was found to lower a man's annual earnings by as much as 2.3% and a woman's by as much as 6.2%. The average reduction for women was around 4.5%, study researcher Charles L. Baum, PhD, tells WebMD. The findings were reported in the September issue of the journal Health Economics.
"Four and a half percent may not sound like a lot, but over the course of a career it can really add up," Baum says. "If you earn $50,000 on an annual basis, that is $2,250. If you multiply that over a 40-year career, that's almost $100,000."
The researchers attempted to identify other explanations for why overweight workers make less. In their analysis the discrepancy could not be explained by lower productivity or customer discrimination. But there was some evidence that obese employees were less likely to seek training to further their careers.
The findings echo those of an analysis combining 29 studies of employment discrimination compiled by Western Michigan University management professor Mark Roehling, PhD.
Roehling tells WebMD that weight appears to be more consistently associated with economic discrimination than any other factor, including race, gender, and age.
"The evidence suggests that weight has a stronger and more consistently negative impact on earnings than anything else," he says. "And the effect was consistently greater for women than for men."
Moving On
While Misty Watts' case seems particularly egregious, Ruby Tuesday continues to insist in press releases that she was not fired for being fat. But company spokesmen have not specified another reason and the 28-year-old mom says she was offered her job back after she told her story on ABC's Good Morning America in October.
She declined and now works at Shell's Bar-B-Q in Hickory, N.C.
"[Ruby Tuesday] keeps saying that my weight was not the reason, but you don't fire someone for cause three days after they are named "Employee of the Month," she says. "They say they can't say why for employee confidentiality reasons, but I went on national television and told them to tell the world why. They also said they would publicly apologize, but they didn't."
The government should should make employment decisions based only on ability and reliability because government agencies do not compete in the market.
wow! Great story. Good for you.
That being said, of course she should have the right to work there, but there are negatives for the business.
Does the Pillsbury Doughboy sell pretzels?
When I was in charge of the Apollo Moon Mission I had to fire a lot of fat-assed astronauts but I never bragged about it.
Heck, she looks great to me (but then, I'm 6ft, 350lbs-LOL)
You didn't get her e-mail, did you? LOL
Think for a minute about the society that we would have if a business could fire a person for any reason. We would be far removed from the society that we now enjoy, warts and all. Our nation would exist for the welfare of business only. Each individual would simply exist for the benefit of business.
I think our national history demonstrates ample examples of the result of our nation existing only for the welfare of business.
Talk about stupid, they just lost a lot of business from people who like to eat. I almost took my fat a** to Ruby Tuesday's tonight but if that is their new policy they can kiss my money good bye. All I look for in a server is someone who is courteous, competent, attentive and has a positive attitude.
Haven't you read here? You and 2/3's of America are not allowed an opinion, until you buy a treadmill and post your calorie count for the day. Who knew!
That's right, I forgot I am just a second class citizen and must blend into the background so people don't have to cast their eyes on me. Although I am doing well low carbing so maybe one day I will be skinny enough to offer my opinion unfettered /rolls eyes.
Like I said this was a stupid financial move by them. Insulting 2/3's of the population is not a good way to woo their business.
Unless she literally cannot fit down the aisles or otherwise physically perform the job, I think it is sheer madness to get rid of a good employee. This restaurant might get one of her caliber on the next hire, or 6 people down the line. Or never.
Bless you and all over weight Freepers. We couldn't of kicked butt this election cycle without you.
As an ex- smoker, I know how it feels to be nagged. After I quit smoking, I put on extra weight. Removing that extra weight required a change in diet and a LOT of exercise. And for me, the results weren't immediate. I can see how people get discouraged and give up after a few months.
Don't give up..
Suppose she was too fat to fit between the tables without jostling the patrons with her butt cheeks? Wouldn't that be a good cause? Not in America -- in America they would tell the restaurent to make more room. If they had to reduce the number of tables? Not this lady or the government's problem.
The article scared me because I put on about 30 lbs in the last three or four months and I'm afraid I won't be able to get it back off. It's hard not to go for the comfort food when I'm stressed, tired, lonely... etc.
Sales seems to be designed around high turnover as well.
It seems like today, in our upside down world, it is almost impossible to fire anyone for cause, but extraordinarily easy to fire them for no cause. As long as you're willing to pay a few hundred in Unemployment. So everybody fires for no cause, and thus references are no good because no one will say anything, good or bad, about a former employee.
Also, I had a professor who started a small hamburger chain. He said something along the lines of they couldn't afford to pay them much money so they had to find other ways to encourage them to reduce absenteeism and turnover. He said they found that black sateen jackets were the best way to do it. The kids loved the black sateen jackest with the logo on it at the time. I don't know what would do it today.
Thanks for the encouragement. I made the changes for health reasons and really don't give a flip what others think as long as their predjudices don't interfere with my life and livelyhood.
Misty Watts had worked as a waitress for the Ruby Tuesday restaurant chain for two and a half years last August when she says she was fired out of the blue for being overweight. Just three days earlier the widow, part-time college student, and mother of three was named "Employee of the Month" at the restaurant, but on the day she was terminated a visiting district manager told her she didn't fit the company's image.
In the words of Duece Bigalow, "That's a HUGE..."
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