The bill stops businesses from discriminating against people based on height or weight when considering them for employment.

New York City council members passed a bill on Thursday night to ban employment discrimination against weight.

The bill stops businesses from discriminating against people based on height or weight when considering them for employment. Mayor Eric Adams must sign the bill. 

Businesses that must consider the height or weight due to the nature of their work are exempted from the bill. Those are the cases where the height ro the weight would “reasonably necessary for the normal operation of the business,” the bill would exempt companies.

Similar legislation has been explored in Massachusetts and New Jersey where lawmakers said they’d add the words “height or weight, unless for the purposes of compliance with any established state, federal, or industry safety standard.”

The NYC bill was sponsored by council member Shaun Abreu who said he has only become aware of the discrimination after he gained 18 kgs during lockdown.

“We want this bill to send a message to everybody that you matter, regardless of if you’re above or below average weight,” he said.