Weight discrimination | Employee refused to work with colleague because she was 'fat'

Almost two thirds of adults in England were classed as overweight or obese in 2017, according to NHS data, which also recorded 10,660 hospital admissions in 2017/18 that were obesity related.

With obesity and weight proving to be an issue for the UK’s healthcare, how far is this starting to impact employees at work and their wellbeing?

For one woman, her weight proved to make life incredibly difficult for her at work. Martina Coogan who weighed 20 stone revealed that a male co-worker refused to work with her because she was ‘too fat’, the Daily Mail reported.

Coogan rose to a size 22 and reached 20 stone in her late thirties. Despite her claims that she wasn’t over-eating and didn’t have a particularly unhealthy diet, once she was fat-shamed by a fellow colleague – who said he would no longer work with her due to her size – she decided to take action and lost a lot of weight.