Submitted by: Charisse Catherine N.

Reyes | BSP K-1

Submitted to: Dr. Russwell Gariando
Subject: Personnel and Employee Relations

Case 2: Equal Opportunity

1. What is the issue of equal opportunity in the case presented?

The primary issue in the case was the claim of the woman that she was denied of the job offered to her by the
employer because she failed a pre-employment medical examination.

2. How do you assess the issue of equal opportunity and the law?

First, we should clarify if the job description (i.e. 70% office based, 30% site based) was fully disclosed to the
applicant. Second, the basis of the withdrawal of the job offer seems objective as it is assumed that a
professional medical doctor concluded that the woman will not be able to perform her tasks due to her
disabilities.

3. What are the conflicting conclusions of the case?

It seems conflicting though that the job was offered even before the woman passed the required pre-
employment examination. If the employer claims that passing the pre-employment medical examination is a
pre-requisite for the job, is it expected that the job will be offered after passing the aforementioned
examination.

Also, there was no chance for the woman to perform her tasks. It was assumed that because of obesity and
a past knee injury, she will not be able to perform 30% of the required work.

4. Is obesity can be a disability discrimination?

This will depend on the existing laws of a certain jurisdiction.

Under US laws, it is unlawful to discriminate against an employee on the basis of “physical disability.” To
succeed on a disability claim, employees must show that they (1) suffered from a disability, or was regarded
as suffering from a disability; (2) could perform the essential duties of the job with or without reasonable
accommodations; and (3) were subject to an adverse employment action because of the disability or perceived
disability.

Taking these into context, the woman was not given a change to perform the essential duties of the job.

5. If this happened in the Philippines, cite any government law to support or disprove the resolution of the case.

The Philippines has RA 7277 or The Magna Carta for Disabled Persons and the RA 10911 or the Anti-Age
Discrimination Law. However, the Magna Carta for Persons with Disability only covers those persons with (a)
Visual impairment; (b) Hearing loss; (c) Orthopedic disability; (d) Learning disability; (e) Psychosocial
disability; (f) Chronic illness; and (g) Mental disability.