State Division of Human Rights, on Complaint of Catherine McDermott, Respondent v. Xerox Corporation, Appellant

Summary

The Court of Appeals affirmed the Appellate Division's decision that the complainant's obesity constitutes a disability under the Human Rights Law, and therefore Xerox's refusal to hire her was unlawful discrimination. The Court held that the statutory definition of disability includes medically diagnosed conditions even absent current functional impairment, and that the employer may not refuse employment based on future insurance risk. A dissent argued that internal agency guidelines required proof of an underlying medical cause.