Should Pennsylvania state police have same fitness tests for men and women? Let's test it

Is it fair game to sue the Pennsylvania State Police for treating women like equals?

That's the question that conservative talk show host Dom Giordano will be asking when he hosts a fitness test tomorrow at Andy's Diner at 505 Ridge Pike in Conshohocken.

The event, dubbed "Huff, Puff & Cuff," is based on the PA State Police test, and will feature men and women attempting to run "300 meters in 77 seconds, have a vertical leap of 14 inches, do 13 pushups without any time limit, and run a mile and a half in 17 minutes and 48 seconds," according to Giordano.

A Department of Justice lawsuit contends that physical fitness requirements for female applicants at the state police academy are discriminatory and preventing more women from becoming troopers.

Employment lawyer Nancy Ezold, a principal with The Ezold Law Firm, P.C., suggested there may merit to the DOJ's case.

"It wouldn't be the first time that qualifications for a job result in the disqualification of a certain class of people, and it warrants a good look to determine whether the qualifications are necessary," Ezold told me in a telephone interview today. "And I believe that the government's suit against the state police was very likely brought based on information that the qualifications are not necessary to the job. The question is whether there is a legitimate business necessity for the physical requirements of state police applicants," adding, "Until the case is tried, we won't know that."

Ezold did acknowledge that "women are generally smaller than men, and women generally don't have the same upper body strength as a man." At the same time, she also brought up that there are female firefighters, police officers and military personnel that haven't been disqualified from their jobs in the manner in which the female state police applicants may have been.

Kimberly Garrison, the Daily News fitness columnist and owner of 1-on-1 Ultimate Fitness, chimed in with me via an emailed response.

"I think that law enforcement is one of the most physically and mentally challenging jobs and only those uniquely qualified to perform it should be hired," Garrison said. "If anything, the fitness standards should be raised, but certainly not lowered.  Lowering standards is a disservice to us all."

Christine Flowers, the Daily News opinion columnist, plans to attend Giordano's event tomorrow. I asked her why.

"As someone who flunked gym at Merion Mercy and was the last to be picked for intramural teams -- even when my best friends were making the selections -- I am thrilled to meet this challenge which, let's be honest, demands significantly less stamina than cleaning a house or getting a toddler ready for bed," she said.

Giordano, in an editorial which appeared on Tuesday in West Chester's Daily Local News, cited Mo'ne Davis, the Taney Dragon's pitcher, as his quintessential example.

"Mo'ne Davis has made the cover of Sports Illustrated. She earned that distinction for a multitude of reasons. She is one of the few girls ever to compete in the Little League World Series. Equally impressive, she dominated the boys with a fastball topping out at 70 mph. She thrilled us with her ability to compete," he said.

"It's a shame that a number of women in Pennsylvania who want to be Pennsylvania state cops haven't followed her example."

Contact John Featherman at John@Featherman.com.