TNB denies discrimination, says BMI wasn’t reason for job rejection

Tenaga Nasional Bhd has denied rejecting a job applicant based on her body mass index (BMI) level.

Instead, the electricity giant said she was rejected for other undisclosed reasons.

“TNB acknowledges that her BMI level is on the high side but that was not the reason why she was not offered the job.

“It is not TNB’s practice to discriminate against people with high BMI levels as the company has recruited individuals with high BMI levels and also with other health concerns,” it said in an e-mail.

In an earlier e-mail, however, TNB said BMI “was not the only reason why she was not offered the job” which implied that BMI was part of the reason for the rejection.

The company clarified that this was a “typo.”

It added that there were 16 candidates for the position and offer letters were issued to three people.

The applicant who alleged that she was discriminated against because of her weight was not issued an offer letter, TNB said.

Earlier, Malaysiakini reported that a woman alleged her application for an executive position at TNB was rejected because of her BMI was too high, this after successfully passing a panel interview.

BMI is a measure of body mass in relation to height and weight. According to the World Health Organization, those with a BMI above 30 are “generally considered obese.”

The candidate, who declined to be identified, said a TNB human resources executive told her via WhatsApp that she was selected following the panel interview.

However, the human resources executive later then told her that TNB could not hire her after the medical examination she underwent as part of the application procedure revealed that her BMI level was more than 30.

The report for the medical examination, sighted by Malaysiakini, however, stated that she was “suitable” for the position.

 In the WhatsApp chat, the TNB human resources executive first told the applicant that she was “confirmed” for the job.

“Just want to inform you that you’ve made it through and the panel would like to take you on board,” the message from the HR executive read.

He added: “It’s definitely confirmed that you got the job (but) it’s a big company and there are many layers and departments handling this so expect a bit of delay (in receiving the offer letter).”

However, the offer was rescinded after the applicant's medical report was received.

“I’ve checked your medical report with the HR shared services (department) yesterday and found out that your BMI score is above the normal target (30). Yours is 38 if I’m not mistaken (considered as abnormal).

“Let me get this straight (out). I’m so sorry to say that it is one of the main qualifying criteria to enter TNB.

“I’ve asked the hiring department whether they wanted to consider you still or to look at reserve candidates. They opted for the reserve one,” he said.

 He also revealed that another candidate was also rejected because of high BMI.

This TNB case is not the only case of discrimination because of weight in employment.

In 2017, Malaysian Airlines sacked five senior flight attendants because of their weight.

Donovan Cheah, a lawyer specialising in employment issues, said Malaysian law does not protect from discrimination because of weight.

A survey of 500 US hiring managers in 2017 found that when shown a picture of an overweight woman, only 15 percent said they would hire her.

One in five had deemed her as “lazy” or “unprofessional” based on her photo alone.

 -Mkini