10.2190/WR.13.1.e PJ8W2076G8844650 5 Legality of Employer Control of Obesity 59 71 20080407 20080407 20080407 20080407 PJ8W2076G8844650.pdf http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=PJ8W2076G8844650 1 Marsha Katz Helen Lavan Governors State University, University Park, Illinois DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois Currently, obese employees have limited legal protections as a class. However, under certain managerial and legal situations, obese employees and former employees have begun to prevail in lawsuits against employers seeking to take adverse employment actions based on their obesity. An analysis of a random sample of 80 cases was carried out to identify factors that increase an obese plaintiff's likelihood of success. An employee in the private sector, especially a nonprofessional employee, has a statistically significantly greater likelihood of winning than do others. 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