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400 lb man who wants to be a gym teacher is suing for discrimination

Chock Full o Nuts

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Lawsuit: Wayne State discriminated against student who wanted to be gym teacher because of weight

David Lopez, 44, was a student in the physical education kinesiology program, aiming to become a gym teacher.
www.detroitnews.com

Lopez weighs over 400 pounds and has diabetes, hypertension and asthma, according to the civil lawsuit filed earlier this year in Wayne Circuit Court.
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Well, I suppose your presence will make the kids want to be physically fit!
"They don't think I fit the description of what a PE teacher was because I'm very overweight,"
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Uh, huh.. go on..
I mean, come on, if you were just 'linebacker fat', OK. But apparently you're in bad shape. A phys-ed teacher should at least be able to be a little physical.
 
I nominate this thread title for best of 2023.

Ffs man, eat a salad!

You know he'll probably win right? "Reasonable accommodation".
 
Our sense of justice gets even worse if he wins such a lawsuit.
 
I worked with a fat gym teacher-------she was criticized, but not to her face.....!!
 
What we should ask ourselves, instead of focusing on his weight and physical limitations, is what are the actual rules, the law? Are we to 'assume' that gym teachers are to be fit and trim? Is there actually wording to that affect or is it an "understood" requirement?
Does this guy have something to 'give'? Can he inspire kids not to be like him, not making the same bad choices?
OTOH, the guy should have known that his career choice wasn't really the right one. Does one need to accommodate him on making one bad decision after another?
IDK
 
400 pounds isn't just fat, its morbidly obese. It not unreasonable for a school to prefer to hire someone in good physical condition to be a gym teacher.
 
Look...the leftists turned uber fat people into Sports Illustrated swimsuit models and Victoria's Secret angels...why not turn morbidly obese people into fitness role models for students.....
 
This sounds like someone that was perhaps chasing a lawsuit from the get go.

He should have picked a different major/subject than wanting to only be a gym teacher. (I say that because he won’t go and take the necessary health courses now required - so he didn’t want to be a phy ed/health teacher he only wanted to be a phy ed teacher.)

Someone that can’t even stand for long periods of time to become a phy Ed teacher without asking for accommodations can’t really be a phy Ed teacher.

How do you teach a kid to play basketball or swim - or even just guard their safety when they do - if you’re that disabled? You can’t.

Sometimes there just aren’t reasonable accommodations TO be made. And this is one circumstance like that.
 
A Physical Education teacher needs to be responsible for the physical safety of the children being taught / trained. Someone who struggles to walk to where an ailing student may be, has no place in such a role.
 
VanceMack said:
Look...the leftists turned uber fat people into Sports Illustrated swimsuit models and Victoria's Secret angels...why not turn morbidly obese people into fitness role models for students.....
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Look… the MAGAs turned uber fat people into MAGA Illustrated swimsuit models and Ivanka’s Secret angels… why not turn morbidly obese people into fitness role models for students…

Also, bye forever!
 
phoenix2020 said:
A Physical Education teacher needs to be responsible for the physical safety of the children being taught / trained. Someone who struggles to walk to where an ailing student may be, has no place in such a role.
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An ailing student? How about the guy just being able to walk to the gym in the first place...
 
I'm hope he gets the job. I hope he can do a really good job there. A person's weight doesn't determine whether or not they can do the job.
 
humbolt said:
Sky diving might be his true calling. He could leave a mark in that field.
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There is rumor that this was his first jump...

 
Scatty Kitty said:
I'm hope he gets the job. I hope he can do a really good job there. A person's weight doesn't determine whether or not they can do the job.
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It certainly does if there’s a strenuous physical component to it like what he’s chasing.
 
Scatty Kitty said:
I'm hope he gets the job. I hope he can do a really good job there. A person's weight doesn't determine whether or not they can do the job.
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When they’re asking for accommodations because of their weight, yes it does….that’s why he is suing. They can’t give him an accommodation - without an accommodation, he can’t do the student teaching and can’t become a teacher.

The only type of teacher he wants to be is phy ed.

It’s really a sign he shouldn’t be ANY kind of teacher. If you’re not flexible and you are gonna need accommodations and can’t look after the safety of kids, you shouldn’t be a teacher.
 
Scatty Kitty said:
I'm hope he gets the job. I hope he can do a really good job there. A person's weight doesn't determine whether or not they can do the job.
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Except the job requires the teacher to show kids how to stretch, perform exercises with the correct form, play games, etc. If he is not physically able to do the job, he isn't highly qualified for that position. Just like you wouldn't want your child's 5th grade teacher to only have a reading level of 3rd grade.
 
Make him do 20 laps and then get a fit gym teacher
 
Are the minimum requirement rules clear on that? I never applied to be a teacher but when I read local ads they do list their expectations.
 
Scatty Kitty said:
I'm hope he gets the job. I hope he can do a really good job there. A person's weight doesn't determine whether or not they can do the job.
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Except in jobs that require certain physical attributes... I was in the Fire Brigade... this guy and others would not pass what it takes to make it.

Then there are the kids that are gonna say, 'yeah, whatever fat guy' as he tells them to run and he can barely walk around.
 
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