FEDs investigation of city police hiring practices result in settlement, change in procedures

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The United States Department of Justice announced Thursday it has secured a settlement agreement with the City of Miami Beach to resolve its claims that the city violated the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) by asking police applicants to take medical and psychological exams too early in the hiring process.

“The ADA bars employers from asking applicants about health or disability until the end of the hiring process,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

“Our settlement … will ensure that police applicants know that they are being evaluated based on their skills and qualifications, rather than on their disability,” Clarke said.

Pursuant to the ADA, employers must wait until a conditional job offer is made before asking about an applicant’s health or disability. This includes medical and psychological exams.

According to Justice Department officials, this requirement helps an applicant know if her or his health or disability led to an employment offer being revoked.  Applicants can then challenge the potential disability-based discrimination.

Justice Department officials discovered the city failed to isolate medical and psychological exams at the end of the hiring process. Instead, it required police applicants to take medical and psychological exams before or at the same time as physical agility tests, and its review of information such as the candidate’s education, past employment, military service, finances, criminal history and social media posts.

According to the agreement obtained by the Wisconsin Law Journal, the city will now make sure its hiring practices comply with the ADA, including the timing of medical examinations.

Further, the city will continue to train its employees on this requirement, and when requested, the city will provide an applicant whose conditional job offer is revoked with the reason why, including any medical or disability-related reasons.

The city will also host a training on the ADA and best practices for background investigations for representatives from Florida’s municipal and county law enforcement agencies. The city fully cooperated with the department’s investigation, including by voluntarily revising its background investigation process to fully align with the ADA.

This matter was handled by the Civil Rights Division’s Disability Rights Section. For additional information on the ADA, please call the department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 800-514-0301 (TTY 1-833-610-1264) or visit www.ada.gov.

For additional information on the Civil Rights Division, please visit www.justice.gov/crt. Individuals who believe they may have been victims of discrimination may file a complaint at www.civilrights.justice.gov.