Friday, August 20, 1999
Woodlawn rights case referred
Female firefighter calls testing biased
The Associated Press
WOODLAWN —The Ohio Civil Rights Commission on Thursday found probable cause to believe that the city fire department discriminated against a female firefighter by denying her a full-time position because of her sex and referred the matter to a regional office for conciliation.
The commission also voted to begin an investigation into the hiring and promotional practices of the department.
Messages seeking comment were left at the fire department on Thursday.
The complaint against the fire department was filed Oct. 20, 1998, by part-time firefighter Pia Young. Ms. Young's attorney, Robert Laufman, said Thursday that his client was pleased with the commission's finding and hopes the matter can be worked out through conciliation.
“She is hoping to get a full-time position there and back pay.” he said.
The investigation determined that while Ms. Young was performing the same duties as full-
time firefighters and received the highest score on the written part of her promotion test, she was denied a promotion because she could not raise an 85-pound ladder during her agility test.
The commission said the International Fire Service Training Association manual, which is used by the Woodlawn department, says three employees should be used in raising a ladder of that size.
Commission spokesman Ronn Kolbash said that if the commission's Cincinnati regional office cannot conciliate the matter, it could be referred to the state attorney general's office. If that proved unsuccessful, there would be a hearing before the commission, he said.
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Woodlawn rights case referred
