From Washington:Question: What is your understanding of case laws and court rulings regarding physical fitness tests? Can a department require them? Can punishment be handed out for failure to meet standards? Can departments award “perks” or “bonuses” for passing PFT’s or exceeding certain standards? I’ve been told fitness tests have been challenged in courts and…
In 2017, the civil service commission for the City of Hot Springs, Arkansas adopted revisions to the police department’s physical agility testing. Under the revised policy, officers who received an unsatisfactory score on the physical agility test were first counseled and then given 30 days to successfully complete the agility test. If the officer did…
Bryan Gipson worked for the Tawas Police Authority in Michigan for a few years when he was in a serious car accident. Gipson hurt his back so badly that he was unable to return to work for over six months. When he did return, he needed accommodations. After a few months of work, his doctor…
From Utah Question: We are in the process of requesting collective bargaining. I have a member who is appealing a practical portion of a promotion test. He is given 10 calendar days to do so which he did, then in our city municipal code they have five calendar days to schedule a hearing, no sooner…
In 2011, Michael Shafer, who was then employed by the Village of Lake in the Hills, Illinois as a police officer, participated in physical fitness testing specified in the collective bargaining agreement between the Village and the Metropolitan Alliance of Police. The contract awarded officers additional compensatory time off based on their performance on a…
For many years, we have been warning that age/gender-graded physical fitness tests are on extremely shaky legal footing from the perspective of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. For the first time, a court has squarely analyzed the issue, and has found that age/gender-graded tests cannot be “job-related and consistent with business necessity” as…
From Arizona Question: Is it legal to require police officers to participate in physical fitness testing with age- and gender-biased standards in order to be eligible for desirable assignments? While the scores of such tests are said not to affect promotion oppurtunity, they are listed on promotion applications and passing the tests is required for…
