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Federal Court: D.C. Firefighters, Medics Get to Keep Facial Hair on Procedural Issue
DAVE STATTER
Courtesy STATter911.com / WUSA
Victory for a group of firefighters and paramedics with the District of Columbia Fire & EMS Department in the fight to retain facial hair. The decision came today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
In describing the decision, attorney William Iverson told Legal Times reporter Mike Scarcella that the ruling for his clients hinged on a procedural matter. Iverson, with the firm Covington & Burling, said it isn’t likely to set precedent under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.
In his concurring opinion, Senior Judge Stephen Williams wrote, "Unfortunately for the District, its own muddled litigation strategy rendered summary judgment for the plaintiffs a legitimate outcome."
Covington & Burling, along with the DC chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, took the case pro-bono.
The latest battle began in May of 2005 when the fire chief at the time, Adrian Thompson, ordered crews to be clean-shaven for annual mask testing. A group of fire and EMS workers claimed religious freedom and refused to shave their facial hair.
Prior to that, in 2001, a federal judge had granted a temporary injunction, saying a grooming order by Chief Ronnie Few violated the religious freedom of the department's employees.
DC Fire & EMS Department spokesman Alan Etter is referring reporters seeking comment on today's ruling to the DC Office of the Attorney General.
Paramedic Steve Chasin, who is also the chief shop steward of AFGE Local 3721, is one of the plaintiffs in the case. Chasin, a Jew, was joined in the lawsuit by six Muslims and Nazarene Christians on the department. He provided these comments to STATter911.com via email:
Related
Courtesy STATter911.com / WUSA
Victory for a group of firefighters and paramedics with the District of Columbia Fire & EMS Department in the fight to retain facial hair. The decision came today in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
In describing the decision, attorney William Iverson told Legal Times reporter Mike Scarcella that the ruling for his clients hinged on a procedural matter. Iverson, with the firm Covington & Burling, said it isn’t likely to set precedent under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.In his concurring opinion, Senior Judge Stephen Williams wrote, "Unfortunately for the District, its own muddled litigation strategy rendered summary judgment for the plaintiffs a legitimate outcome."
Covington & Burling, along with the DC chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, took the case pro-bono.
The latest battle began in May of 2005 when the fire chief at the time, Adrian Thompson, ordered crews to be clean-shaven for annual mask testing. A group of fire and EMS workers claimed religious freedom and refused to shave their facial hair.
Prior to that, in 2001, a federal judge had granted a temporary injunction, saying a grooming order by Chief Ronnie Few violated the religious freedom of the department's employees.
DC Fire & EMS Department spokesman Alan Etter is referring reporters seeking comment on today's ruling to the DC Office of the Attorney General.
Paramedic Steve Chasin, who is also the chief shop steward of AFGE Local 3721, is one of the plaintiffs in the case. Chasin, a Jew, was joined in the lawsuit by six Muslims and Nazarene Christians on the department. He provided these comments to STATter911.com via email:
I am glad it is over. It has been a a stressful four years for me, with the outcome of the case hanging over not only my head but my family's as well. There is vindication for those of us whom the Fire and EMS Department told to make a choice between our religious practice and beliefs and our jobs. We have been successfully performing our duties for years while wearing our beards and can now continue to do so without fear of losing our jobs.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Eric on
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Good discussion Chief. I have mixed feeling about this, but no real opinion. I do have questions though. Do they pass the mask tests with the facial hair? If so, I guess that answers questions about the ability to keep an effictive seal with the masks. If not, will they still be allowed to be interior firefighters. I understand that you have to pass the mask fit test to be interior, but is there a slight chance that this might be seen as an acceptable case where the department doesn't want to say that they can no longer be interior, in fear of being brought back to court? I understand where both sides are coming from on this. One side wants to do what their religion dictates and the other side is wanting to do what is seen as the safe thing. I'm surprised there aren't more comments on here already. I think my mixed feelings are really just those questions fighting back and forth in my brain though.
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Permalink Reply by Scott on
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Lets just hope no one gets hurt or claims a respiratory disability in the future.
I don't think for one minute that has any place in the motivation of these plaintiffs but I can see it coming. Some slacker somewhere will try to work the angle and a court ruling that ignores a fairly clear OSHA requirement NFPA recommendation will be his/her stand.
I am very uneasy about the "I can pass a fit test with it" though. While that may be true under the typical test condition, have you ever tried to pass a fit test just after preforming real FF tasks? A couple of us did a while ago just to see as we had reports of poor fit and leaks on the fire ground. After sweating and getting grime all over we had a much harder time passing even clean shaved.
Why do we keep putting a fashion statement above safety? I am not talking about the religious reasons. I am talking about the side burns and goatees and "soul patches" that are the "in" thing the last few years. I am not meaning to "slam" anyone that makes a choice to do so, If your Chief lets you then thats it. But it does make me wonder why we put looks over safety? Same thing with turnouts that are not cleaned because it looks cool. The old guys never washed the gear, apparently that was the only way to tell they actually did work at one time.
I go back far enough to have had guys on with full ZZ top beards on the job and try to use masks. It was interesting to say the least.
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