"It is good that we now recognise that obesity can be a disability, and I hope that the municipality realises that it was not okay to fire me," Kaltoft said. "I never saw it as a requirement that I needed to lose weight and never had a feeling that it could cost me the job."
Following his legal victory, employers will have to bear the costs of litigation and of finding ways to ensure that overweight workers are not placed at any disadvantage.
Lawyers have described the ruling as a "real problem" for businesses because EU judges did not define at what level of clinical or severe obesity a worker could be classed as disabled.
"This ruling is a real problem for employers. It's still not clear enough for them to be sure that they're going to be on the right side of the law," said Julian Hemming, an employment partner at law firm Osborne Clarke.
Bosses could face litigation from obese employees who claim their work, especially in manual jobs, is too demanding and requires special treatment or equipment to help them.
"This test could mean that businesses face claims from obese staff for failing to make reasonable adjustments to their role; tasks that require full mobility such as stacking shelves in a supermarket, for example," warned Hemming. "They also need to consider whether doing so could trigger related claims from other members of staff who feel that their obese colleague is 'getting away' with doing less work or 'avoiding' manual tasks and that they are doing more of this work as a result."
The EU court declined to define what level of BMI, which takes into account height and weight to calculate the degree of obesity, is required to class someone as disabled, ruling that such decisions would be made on a case-by-case basis.
The Confederation of British Industry warned that businesses could face extra costs and litigation as obese workers sue employers amid confusion over when obesity can be defined as a disability.
Neil Carberry, the CBI director for employment and skills, said: "It is unclear from the ruling what it would be reasonable to expect employers to do, so the Government will need to work with businesses to establish clear guidelines and avoid unfair costs being levied on firms."
Matthew Elliott, the chief executive of Business for Britain, a campaign group, described the EU judgment as "daft".
"This ruling could place a huge burden on UK businesses, with employers forced to pick up the bill for the increased waistlines of their workforce," he said.
Under the EU ruling, obesity can constitute a disability when "it hinders the full and effective participation of the person concerned in professional life on an equal basis with other workers". Important to the ruling, is the EU court's judgment that the origin of the disability is irrelevant even if obesity is caused by overeating or gluttony. The Danish municipality that sacked Kaltoft had argued that he was not protected by equality legislation because his "clinical obesity is self-inflicted".
In store for workers
The ruling
The European Court of Justice ruled that obesity could be considered a disability if it "hinders the full and effective participation of the person concerned in professional life".
The judges said that although being overweight was not in itself a disability, any long-term impairment caused by obesity - such as reduced mobility - should be protected by disability laws.
The good
Audrey Williams, a partner at law firm Eversheds, said European companies may find that obese employees are emboldened by the new rules, and come forward requesting changes to their working environment.
Staff who require a certain level of fitness for their role but who become obese during their employment may have to be considered for redeployment into a different job.
The bad
Campaigners are concerned that the ruling could actually make things more difficult for larger people at work. Tam Fry, spokesman for the National Obesity Forum in Britain, said the ruling had opened "a can of worms for all employers". He said: "They will be required to make adjustments to their furniture and doors and whatever is needed for very large people. I believe it will also cause friction in the workplace between obese people and other workers. This is the closest I've seen to the law being an ass."
Independent
