Source: http://masscases.com/cases/sjc/447/447mass791.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-25 21:55:34+00:00

Document:
Employment, Discrimination. Anti-Discrimination Law, Handicap. Handicapped Persons. Hearing-Impaired Person. Fire Fighter, Hiring.
In a handicap discrimination case brought by a hearing-impaired individual who sought employment as a municipal fire fighter, the judge properly granted summary judgment in the defendants' favor, where a certain level of hearing acuity was an essential qualification for a municipal fire fighter, and the accommodation the plaintiff sought - the use of hearing aids - was not a reasonable one as determined by the Legislature, through ratification of regulations promulgated under G. L. c. 31, s. 61A (governing fitness standards for public employees), and therefore the plaintiff had no reasonable expectation of proving that he was a qualified handicapped person under G. L. c. 151B, s. 4 (16) [807-811]; accordingly, the plaintiff's concomitant claim of a violation of his right under art. 114 of the Amendments to the Massachusetts Constitution to be free from employment discrimination based on handicap also lacked merit [811-813].
CIVIL ACTION commenced in the Superior Court Department on July 23, 2002.
The case was heard by Elizabeth M. Fahey, J., on a motion for summary judgment.
Harold L. Lichten (Shannon Liss-Riordan with him) for the plaintiff.
Robert L. Quinan, Jr., Assistant Attorney General, for the Commonwealth & another.
Mary A. Maslowski for city of Marlborough.
Robert S. Mantell for Massachusetts Employment Lawyers Association.
Michele E. Randazzo for city of Everett & others.
Beverly I. Ward & J. Lynn Milinazzo-Gaudet for Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination.
Thomas J. Urbelis, Carol Hajjar McGravey, & Margaret J. Hurley for City Solicitors and Town Counsel Association.
CORDY, J. Christopher Carleton is hearing impaired. He was denied employment as a fire fighter by the city of Marlborough (city) due to his inability to pass a hearing test based on standards promulgated by the Commonwealth's division of human resources (division) at the direction of, and later approved by, the Legislature. See G. L. c. 31, § 61A. As a result, he commenced this action against the Commonwealth, the personnel administrator of the division, and the city, [Note 2] alleging handicap discrimination in violation of G. L. c. 151B, § 4 (16); G. L. c. 93, § 103; and art. 114 of the Amendments to the Massachusetts Constitution. [Note 3] Carleton contends that the division should have allowed him to meet the hearing standards with the assistance of his hearing aids. He does not claim that he could perform the essential functions of the job of a fire fighter without the use of his hearing aids or that the level of hearing acuity set by the medical standards is unnecessary to the performance of those functions.
1. Facts. We recount the facts in their light most favorable to Carleton. See, e.g, Mammone v. President & Fellows of Harvard College, 446 Mass. 657 , 659-660 (2006), and cases cited. Since childhood, Carleton has suffered "bilateral mild to moderately severe sensorineural hearing loss." He lacks the necessary amplification to hear within a normal decibel range. [Note 8] To correct this deficiency, Carleton has worn hearing aids in both ears from a very early age.
program sponsored by the fire department of Northborough and the Boy Scouts. Carleton took part in "all aspects of firefighting, except those involving [entrance to 'burning structures']." He "received regular on-the-job fire fighting training at weekly meetings." Carleton learned "to operate fire ladders, fire hoses, [and] water supply"; was taught proper "drafting" technique (how to find and use nonhydrant water supplies); and practiced "using hydrants, driving fire vehicles, setting up lighting and fans on fire grounds, assisting with the rehabilitation of fire fighters, and assisting with salvage operations." In 1998, Carleton became a licensed emergency medical technician (EMT). From August, 1998, to October, 1999, and from July, 2000, to October, 2003, Carleton had been employed by two private ambulance companies as an EMT. In October, 1999, the city also hired Carleton as a 911 emergency dispatcher, a position, it appears, that he continues to hold. In none of these activities was there ever a problem reported regarding Carleton's hearing or communicating with others.
civil service examination. He scored a ninety-nine out of a possible one hundred on the examination. Consequently, his name was placed close to the top of the civil service list from which participating governmental units or municipalities hired. In April, 2001, the division notified Carleton that the city would be hiring two fire fighters. Carleton immediately informed the city that he would like to be considered for the positions. Thereafter, the chief of the city's fire department contacted Carleton to explain that a preemployment medical examination had been scheduled for him on June 4, 2001.
conducted by the MedWorks, a department of Marlborough Hospital. Part of this examination required Carleton to use headphones to listen and identify different tones and different decibel levels. For the first iteration of the test, the examining nurse did not permit Carleton to use his hearing aids. The nurse then administered the test again, this time allowing Carleton to wear his hearing aids, even though their use was not permitted under the standard.
On June 29, 2001, Dr. Ryan reported to the division and to Carleton that his review of the Medworks examination revealed that while the applicable medical standard allows a maximum "hearing deficit in the pure tone thresholds in the unaided worse ear of . . . 40 dB," Carleton had a deficit "in the unaided left ear of 75 dB . . ." (emphasis added). And, while the standards permitted a maximum "hearing deficit in the pure tone thresholds in the unaided [other] ear of . . . 25 dB," Carleton had a deficit "in the right ear of 35 dB . . . ." Dr. Ryan noted in his report that sometimes "a single test does not reflect a person's best hearing." He explained, however, that in his opinion the testing was accurate, based on the history of Carleton's disability and on the "wide margin" by which Carleton failed the test.
Dr. Ryan also reported that Carleton "wears hearing aids . . . and has submitted the results of the audiogram performed while wearing hearing aids," but that "[h]earing aids are not permitted to be used . . . in order to meet the requirements of the Medical Standards." He explained the reasons for this prohibition: "Hearing aids do not permit accurate localization of the direction of sounds; can be swamped by loud background noise; may be subject to failure due to electronic malfunction or weak batteries during an emergency situation; and may act as radio receivers, picking up interference from nearby radio transmitters." Dr. Ryan added that "[l]oss of effective hearing in such a situation . . . would place the life and safety of the fire fighter and the public in danger." Finally, Dr. Ryan pointed out that "even if hearing aids were permitted under the Medical Standards," the results of the test administered with hearing aids (on June 4, 2001), shows that "Carleton still fails to meet [the division's medical standards] . . . in both ears."
On July 16, 2001, the division sent Carleton a letter denying his appeal because he had "failed to meet the Public Safety Medical Standards for Municipal Firefighters." The division upheld "the examining physician's assessment that [Carleton] posess[es] a Category A medical condition which precludes [him] from performing the essential functions of a firefighter." The letter also informed Carleton that he was "entitled to a second examination within sixteen weeks" of the denial. According to his affidavit, Carleton understood this to mean that he could be "reexamined . . . using the same test under the same conditions." Carleton did not seek a reexamination.
On August 17, 2001, Carleton received another notice from the division that the city was hiring fire fighters. He responded by sending in the required card signifying his interest in these positions, but received no response from the division or the city. In September, 2001, the city filled the positions with persons whose placement on the civil service list was below Carleton's.
aids while taking the hearing test to determine if he met [the division's] hearing standards" and explained that he was "a qualified individual with a handicap who is capable of safely performing the essential functions of the job of firefighter with the reasonable accommodation of being permitted to wear hearing aids."
On March 8, 2002, Carleton visited Dr. David Citron, a hearing expert whom he had retained in connection with his MCAD complaint. Dr. Citron informed him that a hearing test with headphones on a person wearing Carleton's hearing aids (like the second test administered by MedWorks on June 4, 2001) would yield invalid results. Dr. Citron performed a full audiological evaluation on Carleton, both with and without the use of hearing aids. The results of this evaluation appeared to show that even with the use of hearing aids Carleton's hearing did not meet the division's standards. However, Dr. Citron explained that Carleton's hearing aids did not fit his ears perfectly during this examination and that the misfit likely accounted for the test results. At the suggestion of Dr. Citron, Carleton's hearing aids were sent back to the manufacturer for repair. On May 9, 2002, Carleton visited Dr. Citron for a follow-up evaluation. By that time, Carleton's hearing aids had been repaired and fit his ears properly. Dr. Citron examined Carleton with his hearing aids, and concluded in a written report dated June 3, 2002, that Carleton had the hearing ability necessary to "perform the duties of a fire fighter with no difficulties."
hearing aids; and that Carleton had to be allowed to take the preemployment hearing examination with the assistance of his hearing aids.
Thereafter the city council approved Carleton's appointment as a permanent intermittent fire fighter, subject to a successful medical examination, which was scheduled to take place on October 7, 2002. Carleton was again examined by MedWorks. He was not permitted to wear his hearing aids during the hearing test. The result of the test again placed him into Category A. Consequently, when the city presented the final list of appointments to the division on October 28, 2002, Carleton's name was not among them. Accompanying this final list, the city submitted a letter to the division making explicit that Carleton was not hired because he failed to meet the division's hearing standard.
2. The division's standards. As of the mid-1980's, the statutory framework governing the civil service system gave the Commonwealth's personnel administrator discretion to "establish physical requirements, in addition to those established by statute and rule, as prerequisites for appointment to any civil service position" and to "require an applicant . . . to submit to physical examination prior to [his or her] appointment." G. L. c. 31, § 21, inserted by St. 1978, c. 393, § 11. Pursuant to this authorization, the division issued guidelines concerning, inter alia, the rejection of candidates based on medical impairment. For example, in 1984, the guidelines, which "[a]ppointing authorities [were] required to use . . . in the administration of their own medical examinations," explained that "[t]he causes for rejection [due to deficient hearing were] [a]ll chronic or acute diseases of the external auditory canal, mastoids, middle ear and tympanic membrane that are non-remediable" and "Meniere's disease." The guidelines also noted that an "[a]pplicant must be able to hear the whispered voice in each ear at twenty feet. If not, [the] candidate must undergo full audiometric examination." See Department of Personnel Administration, Revised Physical Standards for Public Safety Positions (May 1984). The method by which such guidelines were devised -- or even whether there existed any set method for devising them -- is unclear.
standards because of concerns, according to the personnel administrator's letter, that the old standards "no longer represent[ed] the latest research of the relationship between medical conditions and categories and actual job performance" and "need[ed] revision to keep pace with developing case law around the Americans With Disabilities Act." To facilitate this task, the division formed a panel of experts (senior officers in city fire departments, physicians, a physical therapist, and a physiologist). The updating process took two years to complete.
"The medical standards shall identify all biological systems involved in performing the essential functions of fire fighter and police occupations in Massachusetts. All relevant biological systems must be linked to essential functions of [the] jobs of fire fighters and police officers.
"The standards shall specify all medical conditions affecting those biological systems that would preclude a candidate's ability to perform the essential functions of the jobs of fire fighter and police officer.
"The standards shall identify acceptable levels of functioning for biological systems.
"The health standards shall be developed based on consultation with medical experts and subject matter experts in the fields of fire fighting and law enforcement."
In December, 1995, the consulting firm issued a report in which it recommended new minimum medical standards. The report noted that "the purpose of [the] standard[s] [was] to aid examining physicians in the selection and retention of public safety personnel . . . based on medical ability to perform essential job functions without risk to self or the public." The report explained that its recommendations were based on a "careful and systematic determination of . . . essential job functions, the physical and physiological constructs necessary to perform those functions, and absolute and relative exclusionary criteria to be used during medical screening."
The standards proposed in the report divided medical deficiencies into two categories -- Category A and Category B. "A candidate or current fire fighter shall not be certified as meeting the medical requirements of this standard if the physician determines that the candidate has any Category A medical condition [and] a candidate or current fire fighter shall not be certified as meeting the medical requirements of this standard if the physician determines that the candidate has a Category B medical condition that is of sufficient severity to prevent the candidate from performing the essential functions of a fire fighter without posing a significant risk to the safety and health of him/herself or others." Included in the report's recommendations were medical standards concerning a great number of biological systems (e.g., eyes, nose, mouth and throat, gastrointestinal organs, brain and nerves, and cardiovascular system). Also included were standards regarding an applicant's ability to hear.
in particular, were accepted by the panel and by the division and included in the final proposed standards. In 1997, the proposed standards were transmitted by the division to the public service committee, a standing committee of the General Court, for comment and further action. The committee recommended to the House of Representatives and the Senate that the standards be "placed on file" with the Secretary of the Commonwealth. The House and Senate accepted this recommendation. See 1997-1998 House J. 1394; 1997-1998 Senate J. 1414; 1997 Senate Doc. No. 1757. The standards were then filed with the Secretary of the Commonwealth and became effective.
The division began considering revisions to its standards in 2001. It again hired a consulting firm to assist it in "updat[ing] the existing medical standards for the positions of Firefighter and Police Officer within the State of Massachusetts" based on an updated job task analysis report. This revision process included the selection of new expert panels in the fields of vision and hearing. It culminated in 2003 with the promulgation of new standards (including revisions to the hearing standard) and the acceptance of the standards by the Legislature that same year.
noted that "all medical certification decisions must be based on an individual's ability to perform the essential functions of the job without risk."
The panel on hearing standards agreed that an "[a]dequate ability to hear is critical for communicating effectively as a police officer or fire fighter." The members also agreed that "[f]ire fighters are more likely to experience problems with hearing aids during the performance of their duties at the fire scene. A hearing aid can fail due to being soaked or from excessive perspiration, preventing the wearer from performing a critical job function during the failure period.[ [Note 23]] It is possible the failure could occur during a circumstance that is life threatening. Police officers are not likely to encounter these types of conditions while performing their normal work duties."
fighting because equipment and other background noise can hinder [the] ability to do so, and other cues can be used." They further found that "[h]earing loss in fire fighters is . . . common over time"; that "[m]any incumbents are able to continue to perform their work, even with impaired hearing"; and that "[t]here is little evidence that modest hearing loss is incompatible with safe performance of essential job functions." Consequently, although the newly proposed hearing standard contains a Category A hearing deficiency threshold ("Hearing deficit in pure tone thresholds in both ears, the deficit in each ear averaging 35 dB HL or worse at 500, 1000, 2000, and 3000 Hz)," an applicant who is assessed with a Category A medical problem is no longer automatically excluded from service. Rather, if a person is diagnosed with a Category A problem and still wishes to be considered for appointment, they are given a full audiological examination. This test can be passed if an applicant has "[p]ure tone thresholds in [the] better ear indicating average hearing levels at 500, 1000, 2000, and 3000 Hz to be lower than 35 dB HL, and performance score of 80% or better on the speech discrimination test in the better ear."
The new hearing standard allows the medical certification of more persons suffering from hearing loss than would have been certified under the 1997 standard. Nonetheless, Carleton would pass neither standard without the use of his hearing aids.
(2) the type of operation; and (3) the nature and cost of the accommodation.
Section 4 (16) permits employers to adopt "[p]hysical or mental job qualification requirement[s] with respect to hiring" so long as they are "functionally related to the specific job . . . and . . . consistent with the safe and lawful performance of the job." G. L. c. 151B, § 4 (16). It also provides that "an employer may condition an offer of employment on the results of a medical examination conducted solely for the purpose of determining whether the employee, with reasonable accommodation, is capable of performing the essential functions of the job." Id.
"The public policies underlying G. L. c. 151B, § 4 (16), are clear: to protect 'handicapped individuals from deprivations based on prejudice, stereotypes, or unfounded fear, while giving appropriate weight to such legitimate concerns of [employers] as avoiding exposing others to significant health and safety risks." Dahill v. Police Dep't of Boston, 434 Mass. 233 , 240 (2001).
Consistent with § 4 (16), G. L. c. 31, § 61A, enacted in 1987, directs the division to promulgate medical standards that are "rationally related to the duties of [fire fighter] positions," for the "purpose of minimizing health and safety risks to the public, fellow workers and firefighters themselves." Fire fighters perform highly demanding and exceptionally dangerous work, requiring that a wide range of physical abilities be readily available under potentially catastrophic conditions. It is not surprising that the Legislature would specifically seek, through § 61A, to ensure that employees in this category of civil service would be able to perform their work safely and protect the public through the establishment of uniform minimum health and physical standards for their employment.
Where two statutes relate to the same subject matter and are not irreconcilable, "they should be construed together so as to constitute a harmonious whole consistent with the legislative purpose." Commonwealth v. Spearin, 446 Mass. 599 , 604 (2006), quoting Board of Educ. v. Assessor of Worcester, 368 Mass. 511 , 513-514 (1975). We see no irreconcilable conflict between G. L. c. 151B, § 4 (16), and the regulations ratified by the Legislature under G. L. c. 31, § 61A, notwithstanding the fact that the standards do not permit the use of nonimplantable hearing aids to satisfy the minimum hearing requirements necessary to the performance of the essential functions of a fire fighter.
broadly than that which is provided him in § 4 (16). [Note 37] Because he is unable to establish that he is a "qualified handicapped" person under that statute, Carleton's constitutional claim must fail as well.
Summary judgment for the defendants is affirmed.
[Note 1] Personnel administrator of the division of human resources and the city of Marlborough.
[Note 2] On April 4, 2003, a stipulation entered that recognized that the city of Marlborough (city) "shall be deemed a nominal party in this action and shall not be held liable to either the plaintiff or the state defendants for any monetary damages, costs, or expenses arising out of this litigation." The city is a party to this case because Carleton seeks, as partial relief, employment as a fire fighter in the city.
[Note 3] Carleton also contends that G. L. c. 151B, § 4 (4A) and 4 (5), create liability for the actions of the Commonwealth's division of human resources (division). However, Carleton's original complaint and the memorandum of decision on the motion for summary judgment mention only G. L. c. 151B, § 4 (16), as a ground for such liability. Although Carleton raised the question of the applicability of § 4 (4A) in his opposition to summary judgment, and requested leave to amend his complaint to include a § 4 (4A) claim, it does not appear that the complaint was so amended, or that such claims otherwise became live issues in the case. We thus decline to address them.
[Note 4] The judge further analyzed Carleton's claims using a burden-shifting test. We do not address the applicability of this analytical framework.
[Note 5] The judge noted that her conclusions made it unnecessary "to address several other issues raised by the parties . . . . includ[ing] the timeliness of the plaintiff in filing his complaint with the MCAD [Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination], the issue of the defendant, [division,] being an 'employer' for purposes of this suit [and] a dispute as to the immunity of the Commonwealth to the claim brought under G. L. c. 93, § 103."
[Note 6] We acknowledge the amicus briefs filed by the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination; the Massachusetts Employment Lawyers Association; the City Solicitors and Town Counsel Association; and the city of Everett, together with the towns of Marion and Plainville.
[Note 7] In light of our conclusion that summary judgment was properly granted, we do not reach the Commonwealth's alternative argument that the division is not an "employer" of fire fighters within the meaning of G. L. c. 151B.
[Note 8] Carleton nonetheless has excellent speech discrimination skills -- that is, he can readily distinguish words and sounds and, thus, easily understand whatever he does hear.
[Note 9] A "call" fire fighter is paid by a town for the fire incidents to which he responds. A call fire fighter, who usually has a primary career, is not required to respond to any particular incident, and does not "man" the fire station waiting for a fire. Rather, he or she is paged when an incident occurs and responds if he or she is able to do so. Generally, call fire fighters are required to respond to some monthly minimum of emergency calls. These fire fighters are not employed under the civil service system and apparently are not required to meet the division's medical standards.
[Note 10] Carleton subsequently held another call fire fighter position, and completed other training programs after the filing of this suit.
[Note 11] In relevant part, G. L. c. 31, § 61A, states that the "administrator [of the division], with the secretary of public safety and the commissioner of public health shall establish initial health and physical fitness standards which shall be applicable to all police officers and firefighters when they are appointed to permanent, temporary, intermittent or reserve positions in cities and towns or other governmental units. . . . No person . . . shall perform the duties of such position until he shall have undergone initial medical and physical fitness examinations and shall have met such initial standards."
[Note 12] The division's standards also classified certain less severe hearing problems as Category B medical conditions. A determination that an applicant has a Category B medical condition does not automatically disqualify an applicant from being hired. Rather, such an applicant is required to go through an individualized analysis of his or her condition in order for the division to determine whether he or she can perform the essential functions of a fire fighter.
[Note 13] Dr. Ryan was under contract with the division to serve as an independent medical review officer in such circumstances.
[Note 14] Persons hired as permanent intermittent fire fighters by a municipality are placed on a separate reserve waiting list and hired, when job openings appear, before the city consults the full civil service list.
[Note 15] The January 1, 1988, trigger date was later amended. See St. 1995, c. 206, § 1 (Nov. 17, 1995); St. 1996, c. 151, § 171 (July 1, 1996).
[Note 16] General Laws c. 31, § 61A, does allow municipalities to adopt, subject to collective bargaining agreements, additional health and physical fitness standards provided they, like the division's standards, are "rationally related to the duties of [the relevant job] and . . . have the purpose of minimizing health and safety risks."
[Note 17] The January 1, 1988, trigger date for in-service standards was amended in lockstep with the January 1, 1988, trigger date for initial medical standards. See note 19, supra. The current date for the applicability of in-service medical standards is November 1, 1996. See note 15, infra.
[Note 18] The two-year interval was later amended to a four-year interval. See St. 2000, c. 31, § 3.
[Note 19] The parties have not provided evidence that the health and physical fitness standards were ever codified in the Code of Massachusetts Regulations. Nonetheless, as required by the statute, the standards were properly transmitted to the Legislature for review and subsequently "placed on file" with the Secretary of State. We thus do not concern ourselves with the precise classification of the division's standards.
[Note 20] "The National Fire Protection Association [NFPA] is a non-profit organization comprised of fire fighting professionals, occupational specialists, engineers, physicians, and inspectors. The NFPA develops guidelines or standards on numerous topics ranging from building codes and boilers to hazardous materials and protective clothing. The NFPA has developed physical standards for the appointment of firefighters. These standards were the product of consultation between physicians and occupational specialists experienced with the demands and hazards of firefighting. . . . Many of the standards developed by the NFPA are adopted by [the Occupational Safety and Health Administration] and state agencies. It is estimated that several thousand fire departments use the NFPA's standards for hearing." Nagel v. Boston Fire Dep't, 18 M.D.L.R. 221, 222 (Oct. 18, 1996). See Miller v. Sioux Gateway Fire Dep't, 497 N.W.2d 838, 842 (Iowa 1993).
[Note 21] Also operative in 2001 were the division's in-service standards that had been accepted by the Legislature in 2000. The in-service hearing standards were identical to the initial hiring standards. The publication of these standards was contingent on the passage of legislation that amended certain provisions of G. L. c. 31, § 61A. Statute 2000, c. 31, was enacted on February 18, 2000. That legislation offered more protections from terminations to veteran civil servants than had previously been in the statute, including increasing the period between medical examinations from two years to four years and allowing a veteran civil servant to continue performing his duties and receiving payment until he failed two examinations, the latter not having to occur until thirty-two weeks after the civil servant's initial failure. See St. 2000, c. 31, §§ 3, 5.
[Note 22] Although Carleton alleges that the expert hearing panels, which formally met on May 29, 2002, to finalize its recommendations, were created simply to offer a superficial legal response and defense to his challenges, the consulting firm's report suggests that this was not the case. The expert panels were created as part of a process that began in 2001, long before Carleton filed his complaint with the MCAD in February, 2002, and this action in the Superior Court in July, 2002.
[Note 23] The experts added that "[t]here are many factors related to fire fighting activities that could lead to failure of an external hearing aid including sweat, humidity, acoustic feedback (when worn under protective headgear), the unit being soaked, and the high levels of background noise . . . ."
[Note 24] Implantable hearing aids are not, for all practical purposes, presently available. Carleton wears "in-the-ear" hearing aids.
[Note 25] Although not determinative, the 2003 NFPA 1582 Standard, like the division's 2003 standards, does not permit fire fighting candidates or fire fighters to use hearing aids to meet the mimimum hearing requirements. The NFPA 1582 Standard explains that "[h]earing aid use is not considered a reasonable accommodation . . ." (emphasis in original). Among several reasons the NFPA 1582 Standard cites for justification are the following: "Hearing aids are not calibrated to function in areas of high background noise (fire scene, rescue scene, traffic), during radio transmissions, [and] are not reliable after submersion or heavy exposure to water."
[Note 26] The legislative oversight is not simply theoretical. "The Legislature does not ordinarily display this level of interest in administrative regulations. The fact that the Legislature [did so] here strongly indicates that it anticipates that the regulations will be substantive and wishes to be in a position quickly to alter anything it deems inconsistent with desirable regulatory policy regarding the subject matter." Postal Community Credit Union v. Commissioner of Banks, 61 Mass. App. Ct. 563 , 571-572 (2004) (statute grants Commissioner of Banks authority to approve or disapprove entity's proposed conversion from credit union to mutual savings bank where commissioner's regulation for approval or disapproval promulgated under statute must be transmitted to and accepted by General Court).
[Note 27] While the question whether an accommodation is reasonable is usually viewed as a question of fact for the jury, courts have also concluded that certain types of accommodations are not reasonable as a matter of law. Russell v. Cooley Dickinson Hosp., Inc., 437 Mass. 443 , 454-455 (2002) (summary judgment affirmed where court concluded that request for indefinite leave not reasonable).
[Note 28] The standards as they existed in 2001 plainly bore a reasonable relation to a permissible legislative objective. That might not always be the case. If the standards were not updated over time to reflect improvements in hearing aid technology, changes in fire fighting functions, or a shifting consensus on the safety of the use of hearing aid devices, they might, at some point, no longer satisfy the basic standard of rationality. See Goodridge v. Department of Pub. Health, 440 Mass. 309 , 330 (2003) ("Any law failing to satisfy the basic standards of rationality is void").
[Note 29] This case does not require the court to decide whether, or when, an employer not covered by G. L. c. 31, § 61A, can categorically apply fitness standards to exclude potential employees. In such circumstances, blanket exclusions are generally disfavored. Cox v. New England Tel. & Tel. Co., 414 Mass. 375 , 383-384 (1993) ("In most cases" trial judge "will need to conduct an individualized inquiry" to determine whether an individual is a "qualified handicapped person" under G. L. c. 151B, § 1 ). See School Bd. of Nassau County v. Arline, 480 U.S. 273, 287 (1987) (individualized consideration required "in most cases" claiming handicap discrimination under § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973). The present case involves a discrete area -- fitness standards for public safety employees -- where the Legislature has fashioned a deliberate statutory scheme in § 61A. Upholding the application of § 61A to Carleton does not diminish the force of decisions such as the Cox case that, in general, discern a strong presumption in G. L. c. 151B against categorical exclusions from employment based on handicap.
[Note 30] Carleton claims that only novice fire fighters, and not veterans, are subject to medical standards. From the record and the regulatory history of the division's standards, it appears that many veteran fire fighters are required to submit to an examination governed by substantially similar medical standards (including the hearing aid prohibition). While it is correct that fire fighters hired prior to November 1, 1996, are not required to submit to such examinations, the history of G. L. c. 31, § 61A, and the adopted regulations suggest that the exclusion of fire fighters hired before November 1, 1996, was a compromise made in order to secure the passage of the legislation and subsequent amendments. That such a compromise was necessary in order to usher in the medical standards does not undercut the necessity of the standards. This is certainly the case where all current fire fighters will eventually have been hired after the trigger date and will thus be subject to the same medical standards. Cf. Commonwealth v. King, 374 Mass. 5 , 16 (1977), quoting Williamson v. Lee Optical of Okla., Inc., 348 U.S. 483, 489 (1955) ( "legislature may select one phase of one field and apply a remedy there, neglecting the others").
[Note 31] Because we have concluded that Carleton's G. L. c. 151B claim fails, we need not address the Commonwealth's contention that Carleton failed to file a timely MCAD charge and, thus, that some alleged acts of discrimination are time barred.
[Note 32] Neither party to this case disputes that Carleton is a handicapped individual. The operative question, at least at the threshold, is whether Carleton is "otherwise qualified."
[Note 33] As noted above, § 4 (16) was added to G. L. c. 151B in 1983, shortly after the adoption of art. 114.
[Note 34] Consistent with the United States Supreme Court's interpretation of the Federal Rehabilitation Act's use of the term "otherwise qualified" in Southeastern Community College v. Davis, 442 U.S. 397, 406 (1979), we construe "otherwise qualified" to mean qualified in spite of (as opposed to except for) a handicap.
[Note 35] General Laws c. 93, § 103, provides, in relevant part: "Any person within the Commonwealth, regardless of handicap or age as defined in [G. L. c. 151B,] shall, with reasonable accommodation, have the same rights as other persons . . . to the full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings . . . including, but not limited to, the rights secured under [art. 114]."
[Note 36] For Federal cases addressing the same issue, see Woods v. Friction Materials, Inc., 30 F.3d 255, 264 (1st Cir. 1994), citing Martin v. Envelope Div. of Westvaco Corp., 850 F. Supp. 83, 93-94 (D. Mass. 1994) (collecting Federal and State cases holding that G. L. c. 151B provides exclusive remedy for employment-related discrimination claims); DeFazio v. Delta Air Lines, Inc., 849 F. Supp. 98, 103 (D. Mass. 1994) (discussing reasoning of State and Federal cases that hold G. L. c. 151B to be exclusive remedy for work discrimination claims).
[Note 37] The constitutional right is broader than the rights afforded in G. L. c. 151B in the sense that it applies to other contexts (including other employment contexts) not covered by that statute. See O'Connell v. Chasdi, 400 Mass. 686 , 693 & n.9 (1987) (concluding that employment discrimination violates rights secured by Constitution where G. L. c. 151B would not apply because employer had fewer than six employees). This is not such a case.

References: art. 114
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