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The ADA should work adequately. At 1.5 SD below the mean, and Randy Newman’s “Short People” song from the 70’s, I should have a pretty good case.
Can’t dunk, yet the reasonable accommodation, lower the basket, is simple, and almost without any cost. Indeed, compared with building ramps, and refitting restrooms, and widening doorways, this accommodation is the best bargain ever conceived under the ADA.

What would this mean for amusement parks? My eight-year-old has just reached the lofty height of four feet, but several rides at Six Flags Great America require a height of four feet, four inches.

A hypothetical:

Let’s say that I, as an employer, need to regularly hire salespeople. To pick the best one, I have each candidate pitch my product to a focus group who, in turn, consistently recommend taller candidates as the ones they would be more likely to buy from. The groups, though wholly unaware of their own tendencies in this regard, just seem to prefer those candidates.

I always hire the candidate that they select. Is this discrimination?

And of course, for height we can then substitute gender, age, and so forth, possibly varying depending on the product being sold. Discrimination or not?

Lastly, is my hypothetical all that different from the way Hollywood screen tests actors in front of focus groups? If those groups favor, however subconsciously, actors of one race over another, should the studios be sued?

Using the focus group would be discriminatory because it has a disproportionate outcome, similar to written exams that are failed more often by a protected class.

Reformed Republican,

So if I asked my employees to select their own supervisors from among their ranks, and they did so with no deliberate bias and picked tall, dark, and handsome people in general, that’s discrimination?

What if it could be showed that TD&H people actually made better managers (hypothetically) because a lifetime of being picked first in similar situations had made them more confident and at-ease with people, an important trait that my employees really value?

“So if I asked my employees to select their own supervisors from among their ranks, and they did so with no deliberate bias and picked tall, dark, and handsome people in general, that’s discrimination?”

Legally speaking? If short people were a protected class, then yes.

Sad, I know.

A few thoughts.

First, being short is probably not in and of itself a disability. What major life activity is affected?

But alot of disabilities lead to shortness. And um, this might be uncomfortable to mention, but i am pretty sure the median height for african americans is above average americans, and asian americans is below. So height discrimination would often have a racial disparity.

And, bluntly, no one likes to be discriminated against, legal rights or not.

I would say if you are an employer, don’t discriminate on height. try to take some steps to avoid the unintentional stuff, both because you are worried about accidentally discriminating based on race or disability, and just because it isn’t right.

oh, and big duh, there would be an obvious gender disparity.

A hypothetical:

Let’s say that I, as an employer, need to regularly hire salespeople. To pick the best one, I have each candidate pitch my product to a focus group who, in turn, consistently recommend taller candidates as the ones they would be more likely to buy from. The groups, though wholly unaware of their own tendencies in this regard, just seem to prefer those candidates.

I always hire the candidate that they select. Is this discrimination?

Yes. By pandering to your customer’s unfair biases, you are encouraging them to be biased.

This is why descrimination against short people needs to be against the law, because otherwise if only some businesses didn’t descriminate–out of virtue–they would be at an economic disadvantage.

And of course, for height we can then substitute gender, age, and so forth, possibly varying depending on the product being sold. Discrimination or not?

Pandering to your customer’s gender preferences in salespeople is illegal, unless you are Hooters or are selling clothing. If you were selling software and your customer said “ditzy blond’s can’t sell software get a guy in here” and you complied for only that reason, I think that would be illegal.

Lastly, is my hypothetical all that different from the way Hollywood screen tests actors in front of focus groups?

Noone seems to apply this to Hollywood, because noone views those jobs as being the type of job where qualifications can be determined from skillsets and resumes. The ditzy blond can say “but I studied computer science at MIT” and everyone will think she hase a case. A fat woman, however, cannot say “but I dance real good” if noone wants to watch her dance.

Everyone has a right to make a living in a broad range of jobs where the skillset is clearly defined and can be evaluated; not everyone has the right or ability to entertain.

Short people wouldn’t want to sue for the right to be entertainers or play in the NBA; they would want to be protected against descrimination in a broad spectrum of jobs where the skillset is clearly defined. Two of these categories where short people face the most descrimination would be sales and management–its probably height descrimination in management that accounts for most, if not all, of the income disparities that short people face.

Does an employee have the right to say: but I don’t want to work for short boss? No. We can’t pander to that, any more than we would pander to an racist employee who doesn’t want to work for a black boss.

Since height discrimination pretty much only affects men, and our society is loath to protect men against discrimination, I forsee this issue dying on the vine.

There is no question that discrimination based on height is real and it affects mostly the short-of-stature, particularly men. It is acceptable in society to discriminate against short-statured people (non-dwarves) due to a lack of a group identity on the part of the short and the fact that they are silent for the most part to the injustices heaped upon them. There are no legitimate organizations for the short-statured either. The taunts that people used to direct at others based on race, religion, ethnic background, etc. are now being directed against short-statured people. A song like “Short People” could not have been aired with the title “Black People” or “Gay People” etc. with the disparaging lyrics that are included – and it doesn’t matter what the motivation of the songwriter might have been. At the present moment short people are virtually powerless to combat the societal forces against them. My website – http://www.supportfortheshort.org is making a small dent in the armor of heightism.