"I don't see myself as disabled," he said. "We hope the outcome is that it's not OK just to fire a person because they're fat, if they're doing their job properly."

When asked if his employer, Billund local authority, had done anything to help him, he said they had paid for him to go to a gym for three months.

"I tried regular exercise. Of course I don't run a marathon, but weight training: I did that, it was OK," he said.

He worked for Billund authority for 15 years and was dismissed, the authority said, because there was a decline in the number of children. No further explanation was given as to why he was selected for dismissal.

Future obligations?
Audrey Williams, an employment discrimination expert at Eversheds law firm, said the judges would have to decide "whether obesity itself should trigger preferential rights, or should only impact where an individual, due to obesity, has other recognised medical issues".

If the judges decide it is a disability then employers could face new obligations, she told the BBC.

Employers might in future have a duty to create reserved car parking spaces for obese staff, or adjust the office furniture for them, she said.

The judges will have to decide whether obesity is covered under the EU's Employment Equality Directive, which outlaws job discrimination on grounds of disability a YouTube video shortly before the killings Friends and colleagues of Alan Whicker pour fille et faminiines des d��bats Secretary of State John Kerry��s remarks Monday echoed Best CEOs of 2013 .