When you are accepted as a cadet with the RCMP you are expected to enter cadet training with a good level of physical fitness. techniques, the EOS should consult 602, How to Investigate. Example (1) - R, police department, had a minimum 5'6" height requirement for police officer candidates. Thereafter, to ultimately prevail, the charging party would have to show the availability of less restrictive alternatives. statistical or practical significance should be used. 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 * As an example, aides. the ground that meeting the minimum height was a business necessity. The difference in weight in proportion to height of a 5'7" woman of large stature would of (iii) Bottom Line - Under the bottom line concept which can be found in 4(C) of the UGESP, where height and weight requirements are a component of the selection procedure, even if considering all the components together there is no 670, 20 EPD 30,077 (D.C. Md. CPs, Therefore, absent a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason, discrimination can result from the imposition of different maximum height standards or no maximum height The EOS should therefore refer to the decisions and examples set out in the following section for guidance. 1978). 1982), vacating in part panel opinion in, 648 F.2d 1223, 26 EPD 31,921 (9th Cir. (b) Analyzing Height and Weight Charts, 621.2 Minimum Height Requirements, 621.3 Maximum Height Requirements, 621.4 Minimum Weight Requirements, 621.5 Maximum Weight Requirements, (d) Different Maximum Weight, Same Height and Standard Charts, 621.6 Physical Strength and Ability or Agility, (b) Physical Strength and Size Requirements, (c) Physical Ability or Agility Tests. When that happens, the Office of Legal Counsel, Guidance Division should be contacted for assistance. because the physical ability/agility test disproportionately excludes large numbers of women and is not justified by business necessity. employees even though the labor market area from which it chose its employees was 14% Chinese. objects. Weight requirements for Navy positions are enforced. 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. because of her sex in that males were not subject to the policy. This same rationale also applies to situations where the respondent has instituted physical agility tests to replace abolished proportional, height/weight requirements. You'll need to score a minimum of 60 points on each of the six events in order to pass the ACFT with a minimum total score of 360. R's bus drivers were 65% White male, 32% Black male, 2% Hispanic, and 1% Asian (Chinese). of a disproportionate number of women and to a lesser extent other protected groups based on sex, national origin, or race. would be excluded by the application of those minimum requirements. According to CP, Black females, because of a trait peculiar to their race and not subject to their personal control, though the SMSA was 53% female and 5% Hispanic. Example - R required that its employees weigh at least 140 lbs. The prior incumbent, the selectee, and the charging party were all female, and According to CP, females have that the minimum weight requirement is a business necessity. race. in discharge. In terms of health concerns, at least where different charts are used potentially rendering compliance by females more difficult and a health hazard, reference should be made to Association of Flight Attendants v. Ozark Air Lines, 470 F. all protected groups or classes. As R's maximum weight policy is applied only to females, the policy is discriminatory. 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. CP, a female flight attendant discharged because of the policy, filed a charge alleging adverse impact based on sex. (b) Theories of Discrimination: 604. In Commission Decision No. Frequently, the requirements are based on a misconceived notion that physically heavier people are also physically stronger, i.e., able to lift heavier A candidate's physical ability is determined by taking the Physical Ability Test. requirements for males and females violates the Act. prohibited sex discrimination. Local Commissions may adopt the following height and weight schedule in its entirely and may exercise the option of permitting no exceptions The minimum age for these requirements is 17. Jog up three floors and then descend, four times 3. Fla. 1976), aff'd, 14 EPD According to the United States Army official site for recruiting, the height range for recruits starts at 5'0 and ends at 6'8 for men and 4'10 to 6'8 for women. basis, Commission decisions and court cases have determined what things do not constitute an adequate business necessity defense. In terms of disparate treatment, the airlines' practice of more frequently and more severely disciplining females, as compared to males, for violating maximum weight restrictions was found to violate Title VII. A 5'7" Additionally, the Black female was unable to show that statistically there was no evidence that a shorter male would not also have been rejected. Although, as was suggested in 621.2 above, many Commission decisions and court cases involve minimum height requirements, few deal with maximum height Flight attendants found in violation of the policy three times are discharged. revealed that although only two out of 237 female flight attendants employed by R are Black, there is no statistical or other evidence indicating that Black females as a class weigh more than White females. Realizing that large numbers of women, Hispanics, and Asians were automatically excluded by the 6' and 170 lbs. evidence of adverse impact, the height and weight components must nonetheless be separately evaluated for evidence of adverse impact. 1077, 18 EPD 8779 (E.D. In Commission Decision No. And, if a job validity study is used to show that the practice is a business necessity, the validity study should include a determination of whether there are In Dothard v. Rawlinson, supra and Meadows v. Ford Motor Co., 62 FRD 98, 5 EPD 8468 (D.C. Ky. 1973), the respondent was unable to show the existence of a valid relationship between its minimum weight requirement and Harless v. Duck, 619 F.2d 611, 22 EPD 30,871 (6th Cir. requirement. or have anything to say? Discrimination results from nonuniform application of the requirements based on the applicant's race. In Commission Decision No. 1-844-234-5122 (ASL Video Phone) proportion to height based on national height/weight charts. R was unable to offer any evidence CP, Chinese and under 140 lbs., alleged that, while she (Whether or not adverse impact can be found in this situation is CP alleges that this constitutes 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 Connecticut v. Teal, 457 U.S. 440, 29 EPD 32,820 (1982). 1-844-234-5122 (ASL Video Phone), Call 1-800-669-4000 study showing that taller police officers are assaulted less, have less probability of being injured, receive fewer complaints, and have fewer auto accidents. preclude the hiring of individuals over the specified maximum height. 1132, 19 EPD 9267 (N.D. Ill. 1979). However, some departments set a minimum age requirement of 20, with the condition that the candidate must be 21 when they were sworn in. On the other hand, and by way of contrast, charges which allege disproportionate exclusion of protected group or class members because their group or class weighs proportionally more than other groups or classes based on a nonchangeable, the issue is non-CDP, and the Office of Legal Counsel, Guidance Division should be contacted.). Example (1) - Weight as Mutable Characteristic - R, an airline, has a policy under which male and female flight attendants are required to maintain their weight in proportion to their height based on national height/weight Labor, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. Both male and female flight attendants are allegedly subject to the weight requirement. between Asian women and White males, if they constitute the majority of the selectees. Members of the 155th trooper training class salute during . In addition to physiological differences, arguments have been advanced that weight is not an immutable characteristic (see 621.5(a)) and that policies based on personal appearance (see 619, Grooming Standards) do not result in The Florida Highway Patrol requires all job applicants to be at least 5'81/2!mfe!x" tall and to weigh 160 pounds. My junior year in high school I figured that I wasn't going to get any taller than the 5'6" I eventually became. ; and. The EOS should also refer to the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures which are reprinted as an appendix to 610. Dothard Court emphasized that respondents cannot rely on unfounded, generalized assertions about strength to establish a business necessity defense for use of minimum weight requirements. discrimination because weight in the sense of being over or under weight is neither an immutable characteristic nor a constitutionally protected category. The Supreme Court in Dothard v. Most airlines require that its flight attendants not exceed a The employer failed to meet this burden. 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 Lines, 14 EPD 7600 (S.D. 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 She alleged that the maximum weight requirement constituted discrimination against Blacks as a class since they weigh proportionately more 72-0284, CCH EEOC Decision (1973) 6304, the Commission found a minimum height requirement for flight pursers discriminatory on the basis of sex and national origin since its disproportionate exclusion of those ) or https:// means youve safely connected to the .gov website. The Commission relied on national statistics which showed that 80% of adult females are less than 5'5" tall and that the average height of Hispanic males is 5'4 1/2", while the average height of Anglo males is 70-140, CCH EEOC Decisions (1973) 6067, where Run through a 600-foot zigzag pattern 2. In Commission Decision No. Height and weight requirements for necessary job performance. treatment. Lift and drag a 165-pound mannequin 40 feet 4. 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 For Deaf/Hard of Hearing callers: The number of Hispanic females in the employer's workforce was double their representation in the relevant labor market, and there was no This issue is non-CDP. 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 . even if all functions of a police officer did require such force, a physical aptitude test is a more appropriate means of assessing candidate suitability, rather than relying on height (or age); and; up to 2003, Greek law imposed different height requirements for men and women seeking entry to the Police. (c) National statistics on height and weight obtained from the United States Department of Health and Welfare: National Center for Health Statistics are attached. In Commission Decision No. female applicant who was not hired for a vacant flight attendant position, filed a charge alleging adverse impact based on race. strength necessary to successfully perform the job. v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424, 3 EPD 8137 (1971). In the 1977 Dothard v. Rawlinson case, the plaintiffs showed that the height and weight requirements excluded more than 40 percent of women and less than 10 percent of men. subject to one's personal control. In this case, the height and weight characteristics vary based on the particular Any of the approaches discussed in 604, Theories of Discrimination, could be applicable in analyzing height and weight charges. 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. In terms of a disparate treatment analysis of minimum height requirements, the difference in treatment will probably be based on either the nonuniform application of a single height requirement or different height requirements for females as Then it was 5 feet, 6; since 1980, it has been 5 feet; who concocted those numbers, and on what criteria? (i) If there are documents get copies. That court left open the question of whether discrimination can occur where women are forced to resort to "diuretics, diet pills, and crash dieting" to meet disparate weight requirements. For a determination of whether the 4/5ths or 80% rule test, as opposed to the test of statistical or practical significance, can be used when dealing with height/weight requirements and a of the requirement was discriminatory since the respondent did not establish its use as a business necessity. national origin, or establish that the height requirement constitutes a business necessity. In that case the plaintiff, a flight attendant suspended from active duty because she exceeded the maximum allowable weight limit for her height, contended that she was being discriminated against because Cox v. Delta Air Lines, 14 EPD 7600 (S.D. 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. EOS should consult the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures at 29 C.F.R. 763, 6 EPD 8930 (D.C. D.C. 1973) (other issues, but not this issue, were appealed), when faced with a maximum height requirement, concluded that different maximum height R imposed this minimum weight requirement upon the assumption that only persons 150 lbs. b. the media's portrayal of law enforcement officers. And, whether they are male or female is immaterial. The contents of this document do not have the force and effect of law and are not meant to bind the public in any way. However, there is limited population-specific research on age, gender and normative fitness values for law enforcement officers as opposed to those of the general population. The Court found that this showing of adverse impact based on national statistics was adequate to enable her to establish a prima facie case of sex discrimination. Otherwise stated, she should not have been suspended because, proportionally, more women than men are overweight. R's police force was 98% White male, and 2% Black male. Gerdom v. Continental Air Lines Inc., 692 F.2d 602, 30 EPD 33,156 (9th Cir. Height: 5'10" and over Weight: 135 to 230 pounds Female Air Force pilots must be 5'10" or taller AND weigh between 135 and 230 pounds. The weight policy applies only to passenger service representatives and stewardesses who are all For instance, in U.S. v. Lee Way Motor Freight Inc., 7 EPD 9066 (D.C. Okla. 1973), the respondent, a trucking company, strictly applied its height and weight requirements for driver In the context of minimum weight requirements, disparate treatment occurs when a protected group or class member is treated differently from other similarly situated employees for reasons prohibited under the Act. 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 In recent years, an increasing number of lawsuits against police officers have been brought to federal . ), In terms of processing maximum weight requirements, since some courts have concluded that weight, in the sense of being overweight, is not an immutable characteristic, i.e., it is changeable and is subject to one's control (see Example 1 The standards include physical aptitude tests and a requirement that officers' waistlines be 40 inches for men and 35 inches for women. (4) Determine if other employees or applicants are affected by the use of height and weight requirements. 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 76-47, CCH Employment Practices Guide 6635.). The training program is not designed to "get in shape", but rather to allow you to enhance . Absent a showing by respondent that the requirement constitutes a business necessity, it is violative of Title VII. 1607, there is a substantial difference and (See U.S. v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 454 F. Supp. establish a business necessity defense. The resultant The respondent's contention that it could not otherwise readily transfer people to different positions unless the minimum height requirement was maintained, since some positions require employees of a certain of right to sue issued to protect the charging party's appeal rights. (See Jarrell and Gerdom which are cited below.) As long as some women can successfully perform the job, the respondent cannot successfully rely on the narrow BFOQ
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