Was a teacher fired for being fat?

(New York - WABC, July 7, 2006) (WABC) -- A math teacher on Long Island is filing a federal lawsuit against a school he says fired him because he's fat.

Michael Frank is a big man: 6'4'' and 325 pounds. And that's the reason he says the Lawrence School District fired him.

Frank had lost his job as a school teacher back in 2004, he says, because he is fat.

"I consider myself a teacher, a profession that found me ... To be told I don't look like somebody who should be a teacher, that was absolutely devastating," he said.

The 38-year-old teacher taught in Nassau County for four years, getting stellar reviews. But Michael Frank says it all changed in February of 2003 when a superintendent evaluating his class said his obesity was "not conducive to learning."

According to Frank's attorney, that is not all the superintendent said.

"He was too big and sloppy. That was the comment -- too big and sloppy to be a school teacher," the attorney said.

So now he is suing the Lawrence School District who today did not respond to the charge.

Although, one parent we spoke to, a member of the PTA, found the allegation unlikely.

"I don't believe that anybody should be discriminated because of size," the parent said.

Get more News »

• Email
• Print
• Report a typo
•