ARTHUR FARMER, APPELLANT,
v.
CITY OF FORT LAUDERDALE, APPELLEE

Fla. 4th DCA | 1981-06-10
No. 80-326
SHARP, G. KENDALL, Associate Judge, concurs., HURLEY, J., dissents with opinion.
400 So. 2d 99 Florida District Court of Appeal, Fourth District (1981) Positive Treatment
Cited by 2 cases

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Synopsis

A police officer appeals his discharge from the Fort Lauderdale Police Department for refusing to submit to a polygraph examination during an investigation into missing funds, even after being offered use immunity. The court affirmed the discharge, holding that a police officer can be required to submit to a polygraph test as a condition of employment.


Holding

A police officer can be discharged for refusing to submit to a polygraph examination ordered by a superior officer, provided the officer is not required to waive immunity from prosecution based on the examination results.


Headnotes

[1] A police officer may be discharged for refusing to submit to a polygraph examination ordered by a superior officer, even if offered use immunity for the examination's res…

[2] A public employee's refusal to comply with a lawful order to take a polygraph examination can be grounds for discharge.

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Key Quotes

“The issue involved here is whether a police officer can be discharged from the police department for refusing to submit to a polygraph examination when ordered to do so by his superior officer so long as he is not required to waive immunity from a prosecution based on the results of the examination.”

This statement clearly articulates the precise legal question being decided by the court.

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Facts & Procedural History

On April 28, 1978, approximately $10,000 went missing from a portable bank vault at Southeast Bank of Broward County where Officer Farmer was working …

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Opinion of the Court
DOWNEY, Judge.

DOWNEY, Judge.

This is an appeal from an order of the Circuit Court of the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit affirming an order of the Civil Service Board of the City of Fort Lauderdale which affirmed the action of the City of Fort Lauderdale in discharging Arthur Farmer from the City Police Department. The appeal will be treated as a petition for writ of certiorari pursuant to Florida Appellate Rule 9.030(b)(2)(B). The underlying facts of this case are not in dispute. It appears that on April 28, 1978, Farmer was working special duty at the Southeast Bank of Broward County. One of his responsibilities was to wheel the portable bus vault from the teller’s window to the main vault. On the day in question approximately $10,000 was reported missing from one of the portable “bus” vaults. All bank employees having access to the vault were required to undergo polygraph testing and were cleared of suspicion as a result of the tests. Farmer, however, consistently refused to take a polygraph test.

The investigation, begun by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, was turned over to the Fort Lauderdale Police Department. In conjunction with this investigation the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida and the Sta-e Attorney for the Seventeenth Judicial Circuit promised Farmer that he would receive use immunity as to anything he said during the polygraph test if future criminal prosecution resulted. However, Farmer still refused to submit to a polygraph examination, and thus he was discharged.

The issue involved here is whether a police officer can be discharged from the police department for refusing to submit to a polygraph examination when ordered to do so by his superior officer so long as he is not required to waive immunity from a prosecution based on the results of the examination. The City, The Civil Service Board, and the circuit court held that he could be discharged. In State of Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles v. Zimmer, 398 So. 2d 463, (Fla. 4th DCA 1981), we also approved the discharge of a police officer under similar circumstances.

Accordingly, on authority of State of Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles v. Zimmer, supra, the petition for certiorari is denied.

SHARP, G. KENDALL, Associate Judge, concurs.

HURLEY, J., dissents with opinion.

Dissent
HURLEY, Judge,

HURLEY, Judge,

dissenting:

I respectfully dissent and would adopt the rationale set forth by Judge Anstead in his dissenting opinion in State of Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles v. Zimmer, 398 So. 2d 463 (Fla. 4th DCA, 1981).

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Citator

Cited By

  • Farmer v. City OF Fort Lauderdale, 427 So. 2d 187 (Fla. 1983)
    …ADKINS, Justice. This is a petition to review the decision of the District Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Farmer v. City of Fort Lauderdale, 400 So. 2d 99 (Fla. 4th DCA 1981), in which the following questions were certified by subsequent order as being of great importance: 1) Does Section 914.04 of the Florida Statutes and the Supreme Court’s decision in Lurie v. Florida State Board of Dentistry, 288…
    1 / 3

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