Old Lady Lawyer: Fat Lawyers Need Not Apply

It’s not just the size of the business that a lawyer must bring, but also the lawyer’s size.

old lady lawyer elderly woman grandmother grandma laptop computerUnless you’re a dinosaur lawyer or an old movie buff (and I mean really old movies) of the Buster Keaton or Harold Lloyd vintage (Google their names), then you probably don’t know much, if anything, about Laurel and Hardy, a slapstick comedy duo that starred in over one hundred movies. Stan Laurel was the string-bean, quick to tears, and Oliver Hardy was the impatient, outsized one (both in personality and girth, his weight north of 250 pounds).

I asked a legal recruiter what issues she’s seeing in hiring these days. Fat discrimination, she said. Fat discrimination? Really? Really. 

It’s another type of discrimination that all prospective employees are facing, but since this is a column on the Above the Law website, let’s talk about this kind of discrimination in hiring that certain lawyers face, in addition to all the others, such as sex, race, age, and the like. It’s discrimination on the basis of size.

Call it fat-shaming or whatever. While I’m sure lawyers are smart enough (assuming facts not in evidence) not to let such conduct go public and end up in a criminal investigation, it is one of the last and apparently acceptable forms of discrimination.

If you don’t live in La-La land, you know that not everyone in this country is a size zero to ten (or parallel men’s sizes). You also know that the rest of this country does not seem to be preoccupied to the same extent with weight. In this country, one size does not fit all. A Center for Disease Control map shows obesity prevalence across the country. Yes, California is better than most of the others, but not perfect.

A recruiter hears, more than just once, from firms and hiring partners, and let’s stipulate that we’re not talking about people who could lose ten or twenty pounds… (couldn’t most of us?), but those who take up more than their share of a seat on Southwest or any other airline. The claim is, among others, that “these people” present a health risk, a heart attack or stroke just waiting to happen. Hmmm… is that truly concern for the prospective hire, or whether the company health insurance rates (assuming it’s even offered) will jump, or good grief, who will do the work when that person is ill?

Some male partners have said point blank that they “don’t like fat women.” Thank you for sharing. I wonder if those who say that are perfect specimens themselves, six-pack abs, buffed, who look like Matt Damon in the latest Jason Bourne movie.

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One man went so far as to say “I can’t handle obese women.” Well, then don’t “handle them.” You shouldn’t be “handling them” anyway. I could point to a high-powered news executive, on the portly side, forced to resign under a sexual harassment cloud, but I won’t.

These hiring partners say that being fat (or obese) indicates a “lack of discipline.” Really? Tell that to those whose conditions are medical and not a result of too much drinking, too many high calorie dinners on client tabs, and whose only exercise consists of jumping up and down when a mistake is made. I don’t think that yelling at people burns many calories.

Oliver Hardy would not be able to get hired, let alone get past a preliminary interview for a legal position. What does that say about us? (I’m not talking about society at large here; I will leave that to others.)

It seems that it’s not just the size of the business that a lawyer must bring, but also the lawyer’s size. However, if a huge prospective partner has a huge book of business, I would guess that any size issue would be overlooked.

If fat-shaming (or whatever you choose to call it) is now couched in terms of health, that leads to the next question: is obesity discrimination a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act? Good question. The EEOC says yes, but many courts have not been quick to concur.

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It’s the “you can never be too rich or too thin” mentality, courtesy of Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor. Today, fat is an issue that transcends gender. Do you know what “fatphobia” is? We’re all lawyers here, so you can take an educated guess. It’s the fear and dislike of obese people and/or obesity. Maybe the dislike hits just a little too close to home.

Recently one of my faithful readers (a shout out to you-know-who-you-are) wrote me about the problems she’s been having getting a job due to her age and also her weight. She’s shed a lot of pounds and has more to go, but she’s facing discrimination in getting a job, despite years of experience. She’s facing the two-fer whammy of age and size discrimination.

So, here’s my question: in addition to the scales of justice, is there now a different scale of justice, or should I say injustice, that “these people” looking for work, looking to make a move, now have to face? What does physical appearance have to do with effective lawyering? Whatever happened to that hokey (I’ll so stipulate) saying that one shouldn’t judge a book by its cover?

Thin, fit people die, too, and just because they don’t carry extra weight doesn’t give them a pass to better health. If someone is overweight, does that necessarily correlate to dropping dead at your desk? (Calling Jim Fixx.) Where does that discriminatory mindset come from? Were these lawyers fat as kids with mothers constantly ragging on them? Could they stand to lose weight as well so that it’s a case of “do as I say, not as I do?”

Perhaps lawyers looking for work now need to join a weight loss program and a gym to up their attractiveness quotient. Do those go on the resume?

As Oliver Hardy routinely said to Stan Laurel, “Here’s another nice mess you’ve gotten me into.” Stan didn’t make this mess. Perhaps it’s time for some lawyer-shaming.


Jill Switzer is closing in on 40 (not a typo) years as a active member of the State Bar of California. Yes, folks, California, that state west of the Sierra Nevada, which everyone likes to diss. She’s had a diverse legal career, including stints as a deputy district attorney, a solo practice, and several senior in-house gigs. She now mediates full-time, which gives her the opportunity to see old lawyers, young lawyers, and those in-between interact — it’s not always pretty. You can reach her by email at oldladylawyer@gmail.com.