METROPOLITAN DADE COUNTY, AND ASHTON TYLER, APPELLANTS,
v.
MADELINE WOLF, APPELLEE
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Metropolitan Dade County dismissed a probationary employee, Madeline Wolf, from her position as a communications operator because she was approximately 53 pounds overweight and failed to meet the county's weight regulation. The trial court found this violated 42 U.S.C. § 1983 as discriminatory and ordered her reinstatement with back pay. The appellate court reversed, holding that weight regulations applicable to all employees are permissible employment conditions based on business necessity and do not require proof of present job-related impairment.
Weight regulations applicable to all employees may properly be made a condition of employment and do not violate § 1983 when grounded on business necessity. The regulation need not be shown to presently impair the specific employee's job performance; rather, the touchstone is business necessity, which exists where there is a reasonable basis to conclude that overweight employees are more likely to become disabled during employment.
[1] A probationary employee may be dismissed without good cause and without a hearing.
[2] Weight regulations for employment may be properly made a condition of employment if there is a reasonable basis to conclude that obesity or overweightness increases the l…
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“The regulation relating to weight or overweight, like other health requirements, may properly be made a condition of employment, since there is reasonable basis to conclude that one who is obese or overweight, as for other health conditions, is thereby more likely to become disabled during employment, to the detriment of the county financially and otherwise.”
Establishes the court's primary holding that weight regulations are valid employment conditions grounded in business necessity and disability risk.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceMadeline Wolf was a probationary employee in the fire alarm division of Metropolitan Dade County's fire department. She was dismissed because she was …
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This appeal is by the defendants below, from an adverse judgment directing Dade County to employ the appellee for the position of communications operator in the fire alarm division of the fire department *585of the county, and awarding her back pay from the time of her dismissal. We find error and reverse.
The status of the appellee, at the time she was dismissed, was that of a probationary employee. Under the Code of Metropolitan Dade County, § 2-42, and the Personnel Rules of the county, an employee in a probationary status may be dismissed without the need for there to be good cause, and without the right to a hearing. Cf. Byrne v. Cato, 158 Fla. 391, 28 So.2d 687.
Here the reason assigned for the dismissal of the appellee, although the giving of a reason was not necessary for validity of dismissal of one in her employment status, was that she was some 53 pounds overweight, according to the weight regulation of the county which was applicable. As a result thereof she was unable to pass satisfactorily a physical examination upon which qualification for employment was dependent.
The trial court was of the view that fixing of such a weight regulation, as a condition of employment, was a discrimination against a person in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983. We cannot agree. The regulation relating to weight or overweight, like other health requirements, may properly be made a condition of employment, since there is reasonable basis to conclude that one who is obese or overweight, as for other health conditions, is thereby more likely to become disabled during employment, to the detriment of the county financially and otherwise. As such, the regulation can be said to be grounded on business necessity. See Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424, 431, 91 S.Ct. 849, 853, 28 L.Ed.2d 158, 164; Rowe v. General Motors Corporation, 5 Cir. 1972, 457 F.2d 348, 354. For example, in Sardinas v. Metropolitan Dade County, decided by the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Miami Division (No. 71-904, unreported) the Court stated, as one of the conclusions of law therein, “The defendant may adopt and continue to adopt weight requirements since they are job related. Such business related requirements are not prohibited by 42 U.S.C. Section 1983. Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424, 28 L.Ed.2d 158, 91 S.Ct. 849.”
The trial court based the judgment on the additional ground that the county’s weight regulation was not job related, in that “her overweight does not have deleterious effect upon her health or her ability to perform the job in question.” The ap-pellee contends that ground is meritorious and is sufficient support for the judgment. The appellant argues, and we agree, that if such a regulation is proper because based on business necessity it is not necessary that the physical condition inhibited by the regulation be one which presently would impair the performance of the employee in the job sought or involved. Thus, in this connection the Supreme Court of the United States in Griggs said: “The touchstone is business necessity.”
In this case there is no claim or indication that this regulation, which is applicable to all alike, had a discriminatory or other invidious purpose.
For the reasons assigned the judgment is reversed and the cause is remanded to the circuit court with direction to enter an order dismissing the complaint.
Reversed and remanded with direction.
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Zorick v. Tynes, 372 So. 2d 133 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979)…other federal constitutional rights may indeed yield attorney’s fees. Title 42 U.S.C., Section 1988.5 But assuming that Florida courts have power to entertain section 1983 suits, and to grant attending remedies, see Metropolitan Dade County v. Wolf, 274 So. 2d 584 (Fla. 3d DCA 1973), cert. den. 414 U.S. 1116, 94 S.Ct. 849, 38 L.Ed.2d 743, the short answer to Zorick’s claim of a due process violation is that his blindness did not subject him to an irrebuttable presumption of incompetency as a classroom teacher…
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Lloyd v. Page, 474 So. 2d 865 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985)…r by incompatibility in its exercise arising from the nature of the particular case.” 93 US, at 136. The issue of whether Florida will exercise concurrent jurisdiction of § 1983 actions has not been directly faced. Metropolitan Dade County v. Wolf, 274 So. 2d 584 (Fla. 3d DCA), cert. den., 414 U.S. 1116, 94 S.Ct. 849, 38 L.Ed.2d 743 (1973), held that a' personnel weight restriction was not discriminatory, without discussing the jurisdictional question. Zorick v. Tynes, 372 So. 2d 133 (Fla. 1st DCA 1979), mad…
Authorities Cited
- Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424 (U.S. 1971)
- Rowe v. Gen. Motors Corp., 457 F.2d 348 (5th Cir. 1972)
- Byrne v. Cato, 158 Fla. 391 (Fla. 1947)