By Matthew Laurrie
Assistant Features Editor
You apply for a job, your application is flawless, you nail your interview, your references give stellar recommendations and you are ready to pursue a new venture in life. But, there’s one small snafu: you’re, shall we say, on the heavier side. That’s an automatic dismissal from some prospective positions.
I know – it’s ludicrous and unwarranted.
Citizens Medical Center in Victoria, Texas, is perpetuating this exact practice, and it is receiving a lot of flak. The heath care facility refuses to hire potential employees who are overweight or have a body mass index (BMI) greater than 35, according to an April 9 Yahoo News article.
The same article also states BMI – a system that measures health based on height and weight – doesn’t accurately portray a representative figure because it fails to account for a person’s muscle mass over body fat; a bodybuilder may have the same BMI as an obese man, for example. It’s an antiquated, unreliable system.
The intention of this policy is to discourage employees from setting a bad example for patients. But, along the way, the policy is promoting unnecessary discrimination.
The new stipulations at Citizens Medical Center feed into unrealistic expectations and blatantly show ability comes second to physical appearance. If I were ever hospitalized, my first thought would be, “I want a skilled professional to take care of me.” Not, ‘I hope my aide isn’t fat!”
Instead of discriminating against workers who may require a slightly larger pair of scrubs, why not offer programs, workshops or incentives that motivate them to gain control, instead of pounds. It can be easy for people to point out problems, but it’s much more difficult for those same people to present solutions to the dilemmas.
David Brown, CEO of Citizens Medical Center, explained that despite alleged offers of assistance to the potential job candidates who are overweight, the applicants are unresponsive to the hospital’s attempts, according to an April 9 HLN article.
“We have some people who are applicants and they know the requirements, and we try and help them get there but they’re not interested,” he said. “So that’s fine, they can go work somewhere else.”
Brown’s statement is both a sweeping generalization and an insensitive response. Weight loss doesn’t happen overnight, and physical fitness requires more than just dieting – it entails an entire lifestyle shift.
While I understand a person’s weight is generally a controllable factor, in comparison with age or race, altering one’s physical appearance is easier said than done.
If the health care facility is going to require its workers to engage in healthy practices, I’m curious when the provisions regarding smoking, alcohol and drug policies will become public. It’s hypocritical to only address one area of healthful living and neglect other bad habits workers likely partake in. Consistency shouldn’t be optional.
A job should be granted based upon the measure of a person’s skill set, not by what the scale says.
laurrimr11@bonaventure.edu
