Webster v. City of Fairfield

18 F. Supp. 3d 913, 2014 WL 1685901, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59238, 122 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1010
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. Ohio
DecidedApril 29, 2014
DocketNo. 1:12-cv-598
StatusPublished

This text of 18 F. Supp. 3d 913 (Webster v. City of Fairfield) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. Ohio primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Webster v. City of Fairfield, 18 F. Supp. 3d 913, 2014 WL 1685901, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59238, 122 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1010 (S.D. Ohio 2014).

Opinion

OPINION & ORDER

S. ARTHUR SPIEGEL, Senior District Judge.

This matter is before the Court on Defendant’s motion for summary judgment (doc. 11), Plaintiffs response in opposition thereto (doc. 20), and Defendant’s reply in support thereof (doc. 21). For the reasons that follow, we hereby GRANT Defendant’s motion.

I. BACKGROUND

Beginning in 2003, Plaintiff Shannon Webster (“Webster”) began part-time employment with Defendant City of Fairfield as a firefighter/EMT-B (emergency medical technician basic). She was encouraged to apply for that position by a number of male firefighters. (Deposition of Shannon Lee Webster (doc. 19) at 19, 24-26.) Prior to being hired, Webster had to complete a physical ability test (Webster dep. at 27-31). When she was hired, Webster, at 5'2", weighed 170 pounds (Webster dep. at 14, 65).

Each firehouse has a workout facility in the building (Deposition of Chief Donald G. Bennett (doc. 18) at 35-36). Firefighters are required, and paid, to work-out one hour per shift (Bennett dep. at 76; Affidavit of Russell Kammer (doc. 11-2) ¶ 5; Deposition of Randall McCreadie (doc. 11-12) at 42-43, 56; Webster dep. at 64-65, 156, 202-03 & Exh. ii p. 29). The department arranges coverage so that firefighters can fulfill this obligation, but even absent coverage, the workout requirement remains (McCreadie dep. at 42-43, 56). In order to track their compliance, firefighters record their workouts either into “pen and paper” logbook or a computer software program (Bennett dep. at 72-73; McCreadie dep. at 41-42; Webster dep. at 86, 202-03 & Exh. ii p. 29-30). Webster testified that she did not work-out at the firehouse because of “time restraints,” meaning she “was busy on runs” or “didn’t want to work[-]out at 1:00 in the morning” (Webster dep. at 133-34, 158-59). Webster was not disciplined for this policy violation because she told her lieutenant, Randy McCreadie, that she instead worked-out at Planet Fitness, a private gym (McCreadie dep. at 56-57; Webster dep. at 38-39). Webster, however, did not comply with his request to provide written verification of her visits there (McCreadie dep. at 56-57).

Prior to 2011, firefighters took a Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (“SCBA”) test yearly. It monitored their endurance while performing such activities as navigating obstacles, climbing ladders and pulling weights while wearing an SCBA, akin to a scuba device. It was not, however, a pass/fail event. (Bennett dep. at 20-21.) In mid-2010, the training division, which included Captain Russ Kammer and Lieutenant McCreadie, consulted with Chief Bennett about revising the test such that it would evaluate a firefighter’s ability to perform the essential functions associated with fire and emergency medical duties, including overall body strength and cardiovascular endurance (Bennett dep. at 44; Affidavit of Donald Bennett (doc. 11-1) ¶ 5). In June 2011, current firefighters took the new physical ability test for the first time, and it was added to the policy and procedure manual in July 2011 (Bennett dep. at 46-49; Bennett aff. ¶ 5; Kam-mer aff. ¶ 4). It consists of seven evolu[915]*915tions: tower climb with a hose pack; hose pull; tower descent; ventilation simulator; ladder raise and lower; charged hose drag; and victim rescue (“the dummy drag”) (Webster dep. Exh. ee). A facilitator accompanies a firefighter when he or she takes the test to ensure that he or she properly completes each evolution (Bennett dep. at 55-56; Kammer aff. ¶ 4). Any firefighter who fails one or more evolutions is required to re-test within six months; in the event of a second failure, the firefighter is referred to the department’s physician for a physical evaluation (Webster dep. Exh. ee p. 20). There is testimony that, prior to administering the new test in June 2011, the evolutions and the criteria for passing were reviewed with the firefighters (Bennett dep. at 45-46; Kammer aff. ¶ 4; McCreadie dep. at 18-19, 28). A number of the drills had been done in the past, so the firefighters were familiar with them (Kammer aff. ¶4). Webster claims that none of the firefighters were told in advance what to expect.

Webster took the physical ability test on June 24, 2011; her facilitator was Rob Lance. During the ladder evolution, she started to hoist the ladder, but stopped and stepped on the halyard to keep the ladder in place. This action, indicative of a lack of upper body strength, amounts to a failure of the evolution. Webster also struggled with the victim rescue evolution, dropping the dummy, but she failed the test because she did not properly complete the ladder raise (Kammer aff. ¶ 5; Affidavit of Robert Lance (doc. 11-3) ¶4; McCreadie dep. at 24-26; Webster dep. 89-92.) On July 15, 2011, Captain Jim Howell, Webster’s supervisor, informed her that she failed the physical ability test (Deposition of James Howell (doc. 16) at 16-17; Webster dep. at 94, 96, 99-100, 102-03). Webster testified that Howell told her they both knew she never would pass the test. He suggested that they could come up with a reason for her to resign, or she could take the test again in six months and, when she failed, he would follow the course that policy dictated (Webster dep. at 103, 118). At this time Webster weighed approximately 220 pounds; she agreed that this number made her 100 pounds overweight “per normal health -standards” (Webster dep. at 115-16).

Webster’s lieutenant, McCreadie, told Chief Bennett that Webster was upset after her meeting with Captain Howell (McCreadie dep. at 36). McCreadie set up a meeting for the following shift, so that he and the Chief could meet with Webster. Bennett asked Rich Hall — another lieutenant in the fire department, with whom Webster has a romantic relationship and has cohabited for the past nine years — to attend as well. (Bennett dep. at 77; Deposition of Richard Hall (doc. 14) at 5, 52; McCreadie dep. at 37; Webster dep. at 122-23.) Bennett told Webster that it was not the opinion of the department that she could not pass the physical ability test and that he, personally, would work out with her and show her what was needed to be done to develop her upper body strength (Bennett dep. at 77; Hall dep. at 72; McCreadie dep. at 37). McCreadie also offered to work out with her and “was not going to let [her] quit” (Hall dep. at 72-73; McCreadie dep. at 37; Webster dep. at 120-21). Webster was told, per policy, that she would need to re-take the test in December, six months hence (Bennett dep. at 61; Webster dep. at 124 & Exh. ee p. 20).

In his capacity as Training Coordinator, Captain Kammer met with Webster and Lieutenant McCreadie regarding her failure of the June 2011 physical ability test; she was then advised what was needed to get in shape so that she could retake the test and pass all evolutions. Kammer told [916]*916Webster that, since January 2011, her fitness workouts in relation to her hours worked were “out of balance” and that he had no record of her working-out every shift as required (Kammer aff. ¶ 15). When Webster replied that she worked-out outside of the workplace, he told her that she needed to provide documentation of those workouts, but, as with Lieutenant McCreadie, she did not comply (Kammer aff. ¶ 15). Webster acknowledged that she lacked upper body strength (Kammer aff. ¶ 15; McCreadie dep. at 53). She re-took the physical ability test at the end of December 2011. When she got to the ladder evolution, she “walked off’ and “did not complete the test” (Webster dep. at 137-38). Thereafter, per policy, Webster was advised to see the department’s physician (Kammer aff.

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18 F. Supp. 3d 913, 2014 WL 1685901, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 59238, 122 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 1010, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/webster-v-city-of-fairfield-ohsd-2014.