The American Medical Association's recognition of obesity as a disease is likely to lead to more disability litigation against employers.

Legal experts also expect more litigation in response to changes in the Arlington, Va.-based American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic manual of mental disorders.

The Chicago-based AMA voted in June to recognize obesity as a disease that requires a range of medical interventions to treat and prevent obesity.

“Recognizing obesity as a disease will help change the way the medical community tackles this complex issue that affects approximately one in three Americans,” Dr. Patrice Harris, a member of the AMA board, said in a statement. “The AMA is committed to improving health outcomes and is working to reduce the incidence of cardiovascular disease and Type 2 diabetes, which are often linked to obesity.”

Particularly when viewed in conjunction with the Americans with Disabilities Amendments Act of 2008, which significantly broadened the number of people it protects, the AMA's position is likely to create increased demands on employers as well as litigation.

“It's going to be very difficult for employers to prove that a recognized and diagnosed medical condition isn't a protected disability,” said Jonathan T. Hyman, a partner with Kohrman Jackson & Krantz P.L.L. in Cleveland.

Historically, “courts have protected obesity under the ADA,” but only if the worker is morbidly obese. Now, by combining the expanded definitions of disability under the ADA and the AMA's policy, “it's going to be much easier for those who are classified with this new disease of obesity to argue they have a disability protected by the ADA,” Mr. Hyman said.

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While the ADA already covered morbid obesity, “there's always been a question” as to the level at which it becomes a covered disability, said Mark A. Shank, a partner with Gruber Hurst Johansen Hail Shank L.L.P. in Dallas. As a result of the AMA's action, the ADA and the Family and Medical Leave Act are “more likely to cover someone who's obese,” he said.

More than one-third of U.S. adults are obese.

As obesity remains a concern, “the issues of potential reasonable accommodations as to obese applicants and employees will become much more prevalent,” said Frank C. Morris Jr., a member of Epstein Becker & Green P.C. in Washington.

Eric B. Meyer, a partner with Dilworth Paxson L.L.P. in Philadelphia, said, however, “The issue will come down to a case-by-case analysis” of whether a worker has a disability. “Just because an employee comes to a manager or (human resources) and says, "I am obese, I have a disability,' does not make it such,” he said.

However, Martha J. Zackin, of counsel at Mintz Levin Cohn Ferris Glovsky & Popeo P.C. in Boston, said the AMA defining obesity as a disease “becomes a powerful arrow in the plaintiff attorney's quiver, so to speak, a powerful plus on the side of it being actually a disability under the ADA. I think it's going to lead to litigation.”

Observers say employers should be sure to engage in the interactive process required by the ADA to accommodate employees who claim they are disabled because of obesity. Employers who ignore the issue “really run the risk of a potential ADA claim,” said Mr. Hyman.