(See 621.1(b)(2)(iv) for a more detailed strength necessary to successfully perform the job. aides. to the respondent was to show that the requirements constituted a business necessity with a manifest relationship to the employment in question. Medical, Moral, Physical: Medically and physically fit, and in good moral standing. The EOS can rely on a traditional disparate treatment analysis such as that suggested in 604, Theories of Discrimination, to solve these problems. group or class and not against others. The court in Laffey v. Northwest Airlines, Inc., 366 F.Supp. For many types of jobs minimum height standards have been established by employers. the issue is non-CDP, and the Office of Legal Counsel, Guidance Division should be contacted.). than their shorter, lighter counterparts. The state study, which was refuted by a LEAA study that reached different 54 1980), and Vanguard Justice Society Inc. v. Hughes, 471 F. Supp. subject to the employees' personal control. Succinctly stated by the court in Cox v. Delta Air But on Tuesday, a court in . The EOS should therefore refer to the decisions and examples set out in the following section for guidance. 1607, there is a substantial difference and For further guidance in analyzing charges of disparate treatment, the EOS should refer to 604, Theories of Discrimination. A 5'7" The height and weight statistical studies in Appendix I, for example, only show differences based on sex, age, and race. prima facie case without a showing of discriminatory intent. R informed CP that the rejection was based on her weight and that it did not want overweight employees as receptionists since they greeted the public. When such charges are presented, the charging party should be apprised that courts have When law enforcement agencies started recruiting women and racial/ethnic minorities for general police service, the height requirements had to go, as there just aren't a lot of women and some minorities who are over 59. 76-47, CCH Employment Practices Guide 6635.). establish a business necessity defense. Investigation revealed that R's reason for the weight requirement was public preference for shapely females in public contact positions. The respondent did not show the existence of a valid relationship between strength and weight. (See 604, Theories of Discrimination.) Therefore, absent a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason, discrimination can result from the imposition of different maximum height standards or no maximum height In Example 2 above, the allegation is that weight, in the sense of Black females weighing more than White females, is a trait peculiar to a particular race. Local Commissions may adopt the following height and weight schedule in its entirely and may exercise the option of permitting no exceptions This basic (This problem is discussed further in 621.6, below.). If the charging party can establish a prima facie case of standards for female as opposed to similarly situated male employees. frequently disciplined for violating it, that the policy was not applied to males, that no male had ever been disciplined for violating it, and that many of the males were overweight. study showing that taller police officers are assaulted less, have less probability of being injured, receive fewer complaints, and have fewer auto accidents. 1975). This automatic exclusion from consideration adversely impacts upon those protected groups. CPs, 14 (November 30, 1977). The question of what would constitute an adequate business necessity defense so as to entitle the employer to maintain minimum height standards was not addressed by the Court in Dothard v. Rawlinson, supra. (i) If there are documents get copies. Run through a 600-foot zigzag pattern 2. consideration for employment. The EOS would therefore have to determine whether there are statistics showing disproportionate exclusion of the charging party's group as a result of a neutral rule or policy. (c) National statistics on height and weight obtained from the United States Department of Health and Welfare: National Center for Health Statistics are attached. Dillmann is 1.615 meters tall - 1.5 centimeters too short. origin traits they as a class weigh proportionally more than other groups or classes, when the weight of each of the group or class members is in proportion to their height, the charge should be accepted, and further investigation conducted to Example (2) - Weight as Immutable Characteristic - R, an airline, has a policy under which flight attendant applicants are required to meet proportional height/weight requirements based on national charts. (iv) Dothard v. Rawlinson - In Dothard v. Rawlinson, 433 U.S. 321, 14 EPD 7632 (1977), the Supreme Court was faced with a challenge by a rejected female applicant for a Correctional validate a test that measures strength directly. women passed the wall requirement, and none passed the sandbag requirement. self-recognized inability to meet the requirement, the application process might not adequately reflect the potential applicant pool. An adverse impact analysis does not require the proving of intent, but rather it focuses on the effects For instance, if the charging party is from a particular Indian tribe located almost exclusively in a particular Additionally, even though Chinese constituted 17% of the population, only 1% of R's workforce was Chinese. The Court . This means that, except in rare instances, charging parties attempting to challenge height and weight requirements do not have to show an adverse impact on their protected group or class by use of actual applicant flow or selection data. Hispanics from production jobs. 1979), the court looked at Dothard, supra and concluded that the plaintiffs established a prima facie case of sex discrimination by True Courts have traditionally upheld the no-smoking policies in police departments. The first female police officer. In lieu of proportional, minimum, height/weight standards or size as a basis for screening applicants, employers also may attempt to rely on various physical ability or agility tests. Example - R required that its employees weigh at least 140 lbs. Along these lines, the issue that the EOS might encounter is an assertion that, since weight is not an immutable characteristic, it is permissible to discriminate based on weight. 76-132, CCH Employment Practices Guide 6694, the Commission found that a prima facie case of sex discrimination resulting from application of minimum height requirements was not rebutted by a state than Whites. Example (3) - Partial Processing Indicated - CPs, female restaurant employees, file a charge alleging that they are being discriminated against by R since it requires that all of its employees maintain the proper weight in In the decisions referred to above, the Commission also based its decisions on the lack of evidence of disparate treatment and the absence of evidence of adverse In contrast to a disparate treatment analysis, it does not necessarily indicate an intent to discriminate. Any of the approaches discussed in 604, Theories of Discrimination, could be applicable in analyzing height and weight charges. In order to establish a prima facie case of adverse impact regarding use of maximum weight requirements, a protected group or class member would have to show disproportionate exclusion of his/her protected group or class because of Today, if you can pass the physical fitness/agility tests the agency requires, they don't Continue Reading 54 Chris Everett defense for use of the requirement since a reasonable alternative, e.g., use of platforms to compensate for difference in height, existed. substantial number of R's existing employees and new hires were under 5'8" tall. In terms of an adverse impact analysis, the Court in Dothard v. Rawlinson looked at national statistics showing that the minimum 120-pound weight requirement would exclude 22.29% of females, as compared to only 2.35% of males. requirements have been set for females as opposed to males. sandbag up a flight of stairs and scale a 14-foot log wall. of the employment policy or practice. The Aviation Class 1 limits include: a minimum height of 163cm and maximum of 193cm, a sitting height maximum of 100cm and a buttock-to-knee limit of 67cm. Only when it can be determined as a matter of law that it is a question of weight as a mutable characteristic as in the Cox, supra type situation presented in Examples 1 and 3 above should further processing cease; otherwise as in requirements. The position taken by the Commission requiring that height and weight requirements be evaluated for adverse impact regardless of whether the bottom line is nondiscriminatory was confirmed by the Supreme Court in substantially more difficulty than males maintaining the proper weight/height limits. Although, as was suggested in 621.2 above, many Commission decisions and court cases involve minimum height requirements, few deal with maximum height Otherwise stated, if the allegation is that women as a class are, based on statistics, more frequently overweight than men, this charge should be dismissed in such a manner Flight attendants found in violation of the policy three times are discharged. HEIGHT MINIMUM MAXIMUM WEIGHT LIMIT ALL AGES ALL AGES 17-20 21-27 28-39 40+ 4' 10" 90 112 115 119 122 4' 11" 92 116 119 123 126 5' 0" 94 120 123 127 . Jarrell v. Eastern Example (1) - Prison Correctional Counselors - In Dothard v. Rawlinson, supra, the Supreme Court found that applying a requirement of minimum height of 5'2" and weight of 120 lbs. 76-31, CCH Employment Practices Guide 6624, the Commission found no evidence of adverse impact against females with respect to a bare unsupported allegation of job denial based on sex, because of a minimum height R's employ even though females constituted the largest percentage of potential employees in the SMSA from which R recruited. The court in U.S. v. Lee Way Motor Freight, Inc., 7 EPD 9066 (D.C. Ok. 1973), found that a trucking company's practice of nonuniform application of a minimum height requirement constituted prohibited race discrimination. CP, a Hispanic who failed the tests, alleges national origin discrimination in that Anglos are permitted to pass despite how they actually perform on the test. 1-800-669-6820 (TTY)
(i) Use of National Statistics - In dealing with height and weight requirements it may not in many cases be appropriate to rely upon an actual applicant flow analysis to determine if women In this respect the That is, they do not have to prove that in a particular job, in a particular locale, a particular employer's records show that it disproportionately excludes them because of minimum height or weight requirements. Many employers impose minimum weight requirements on applicants or employees. Since this is not a trait peculiar to females as a matter of law, or which in any event would be entitled to protection under Title VII, and since no other basis exists for concluding that CP, a 5'7" Black female, applied for but was denied an assembly line position because she failed to meet information only on official, secure websites. The Florida Highway Patrol requires all job applicants to be at least 5'81/2!mfe!x" tall and to weigh 160 pounds. The Navy may temporarily disqualify individuals under the weight standard, which allows applicants time to gain the weight they need without preventing them from enlisting entirely. The reality of police work is that you are going to have to get physical with suspects, and you can't do that. height, did not constitute an adequate business necessity defense. To buttress this argument, they introduced statistics showing that on a national basis, while only 3% of Black or White males were excluded by the 5'6" requirement, 87% of The respondent must consider individual abilities and capabilities. to applicants for guardpositions constitutes unlawful sex discrimination in violation of Title VII. Investigation revealed that the weight policy was strictly applied to females, that females were 5'7 1/3". Officers for Justice v. Civil Service Commission, 335 F. Supp. female. CP, a female flight attendant who was suspended for 15 days for being three pounds overweight, filed a charge alleging disparate females are more frequently overweight than men, there is no reason the EOS should continue to process this charge. employers, the actual applicant pool may not accurately reflect the qualified applicant pool. The Commission also evidence Black females were disproportionately excluded. officer. supra court cases came to different conclusions. Therefore, Official websites use .gov could be achieved by adopting and validating a test for applicants that measures strength directly.". The requirement therefore was found to be discriminatory on the basis of sex. Additionally, as height, as well as weight, problems in the extreme may potentially constitute a handicap, the EOS should be aware of the need to make charging parties or potential charging parties aware of their right to proceed under other However, such comparisons are simply unfounded. Counselor position at a prison, who failed to meet the minimum 120 lb. LockA locked padlock And, whether they are male or female is immaterial. The physical agility test, as designed, primarily measured upper body strength thereby disproportionately excluding large numbers of female applicants. The court was not persuaded by respondent's argument that taller officers have the advantage in subduing suspects and observing field situations, so as to make the In this case, the height and weight characteristics vary based on the particular Employees or applicants of employers that are recipients of federal contracts should contact the United States Department of females and 88% of Hispanics were excluded. The purpose of this study was to profile the current level of fitness for highway patrol officers based on age and . Standards ranged from 152 cm in Belgium to 170 cm in Greece, Malta, and Romania. The Supreme Court in Dothard v. CPs contend that this rule, although facially neutral, disproportionately affects them because females, as opposed to males, more frequently exceed the maximum allowable weight This issue is non-CDP; therefore, the Office of Legal Counsel, Guidance Division should be contacted when it arises. above), charges based on exceeding the maximum allowable weight in proportion to one's height and body size would be extremely difficult to settle. national statistical pool, the EOS should consult 610, Adverse Impact in the Selection Process. As long as some women can successfully perform the job, the respondent cannot successfully rely on the narrow BFOQ treatment. On a case-by-case impact, respecting actual representation of Black or Hispanic females in the employer's workforce. According to the Physical Requirements for IPS, a Female (General Category) should have a minimum IPS height of 150 cm. the council's promulgation of standards recognizes the multiple responsibilities to be fair to prospective candidates, and to duly consider the safety and welfare of the general public. Close A related body of scholarship also suggests that, on average, female police officers are more adept at avoiding violent confrontations in the first instance. compared to less than 1% of the male population. R's personnel take applicants to private rooms and independently administer and rate the tests. objects. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (See generally Jefferies v. Harris County Community Action Association, 615 F.2d 1025, 22 EPD 30,858 (5th Cir. Additionally, R stated its belief that it was necessary for the The policy was not uniformly applied. As the above examples suggest, charges could be framed based on disparate treatment or adverse impact involving a maximum height requirement, and the Commission would have jurisdiction over the matter of the charge. Va. 1978) which was decided under the 1973 Crime Control Act with reliance on the principles of Griggs The Office of Legal Counsel, Guidance Division should therefore be contacted for assistance when charges based on this issue arise. Example (1) - R, an airline, has an established maximum weight policy under which employees can be disciplined and even discharged for failing to maintain their weight in proper proportion to their height, based on a * As an example, These self-serving, subjective assertions did not constitute an adequate defense to the charge. (since Asian women are presumably not as tall as American women) may not be applicable. Washington, DC 20507
As the following examples suggest, charges in this area may also be based on disparate treatment, e.g., that female flight attendants are being treated differently by nonuniform application of a maximum weight requirement or that different adjustable seats on some vehicles and to a lesser extent, adjustable steering wheels. However, some departments set a minimum age requirement of 20, with the condition that the candidate must be 21 when they were sworn in. 333, 16 EPD 8247 (S.D. R defended on the ground that CP was not being treated differently from similarly situated males because there were no male stewards or passenger service representatives. suggested that, even if the quality was found to be job related, a validated test which directly measures strength could be devised and adopted. That it was necessary for the weight policy was not uniformly applied set out in following. Were under 5 ' 8 '' tall some women can successfully perform the job for.! 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height and weight requirements for female police officers