People.com: Only two weeks before he won the Master’s, fan favorite Bubba Watson really won big – he and his wife finally successfully adopted a baby boy named Caleb after a four-year wait. Read more about his story here.
In a move sure to set off red-alarms for employment attorneys, a Texas hospital has banned obese workers with a body-mass index of 35 or more. The body-mass index analysis has been used for more than 100 years, praised for its simplicity. While it may be an outdated and lenient way of measuring health, this means of screening potential hires is legal, for now, in Texas and most other states. Still, you should expect a discrimination case to be brought against the hospital. The tide is likely going to turn on this sensitive issue, as more and more Americans are considered obese these days. In 2010, no state in the union had an obesity rate of less than 20%, and many had obesity rates of upwards of 30%. Consider that in 1996, only sixteen years ago, no US state’s population of obese people was over 19%. Canada recently held its first-ever conference on “weight-based” discrimination, calling “weight-ism” the last socially acceptable basis for discrimination. If our neighbors to the North are any indication, the United States may soon be taking a different approach with employers who refuse to hire, or discriminate in more minute ways, based on obesity.
today.msnbc.msn.com: “A special prosecutor is set to present her findings from the investigation into the Trayvon Martin shooting as early as Tuesday.”
To read more about Mr. Zimmerman’s plans to avoid additional publicity until those findings are made clear, click here.
ktar.com: “The judge presiding over lawsuits challenging Arizona’s immigration enforcement law has set a hearing to consider a request by the law’s opponents to grant class-action status in their lawsuit that seeks to declare the law unconstitutional.”
For more information on the June 4 hearing, click here.
Arizona Republic: “Glendale Mayor Elaine Scruggs wants the National Hockey League to give the city a break on a $25 million payment that could become due in May for the Phoenix Coyotes’ latest season. . . . Glendale is looking at a shortfall next fiscal year that one councilwoman has estimated could reach $30 million.”
This is what happens with government goes into business with taxpayer money.