By Zach Lowe
Staff Writer
January 15, 2007
STAMFORD - A state human rights investigator has faulted the city for denying a learning-disabled firefighter's request for extra time on a test for captain's rank, documents show.
The city has defended its handling of the request, claiming fire captains must be able to read and interpret information quickly at emergency scenes. But disability rights experts said the city likely violated rules for disability cases and criticized its lack of a standardized procedure for employees who request extra time and other accommodations.
"You're supposed to give accommodations, period," said Suzanne Kitchen, a clinical instructor and consultant for the Job Accommodation Network, a federally funded non-profit that provides employers with advice on disability rights. "No is never the right answer."
Lt. David Lenotti of Mamaroneck, N.Y., who has been a Stamford firefighter since 1990 and a lieutenant for about six years, said his case is scheduled for a Jan. 23 hearing before the state Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities.
The CHRO investigator, identified in records as Aida Arus, concluded in an October investigation that the city's explanations "lacked credibility" and may not have been "factually true," records show.
Arus found the city had no written policy on handling requests for accommodations and concluded human resources officials did not consult an Americans with Disabilities Act expert before deciding Lenotti's case.
The city is creating a standard by which applicants may request extra time, officials said.
Lenotti was diagnosed as learning disabled in 2000, records of the investigation show. He has been in treatment for attention deficit-hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, since 2004.
Lenotti has trouble reading and visualizing things at the same time, he said. Superiors noticed grammatical errors in his incident reports once he became a lieutenant. Lenotti found he got more questions wrong at the end of promotional exams than at the beginning because he was rushing to finish.
He requested extra time for the captain's exam in 2002 and again in 2005. The city refused both times.
"I was extremely surprised," Lenotti said.
The city has never granted anyone extra time on the lieutenant's or captain's exams, said Felicia Wirzbicki, human resources generalist. The city often gives applicants extra time on the firefighter's exam, she said.
The reasoning is that lieutenants and captains are in charge at emergency scenes and have to make split-second decisions, Wirzbicki and other city officials said. Those decisions often are based on floor plans, hazardous material reports and similar documents, they said.
Speed is an "essential function of the job," the city argued. If Lenotti couldn't finish the test on time, it means he doesn't have the quick reading, writing and thinking skills necessary to be a captain, they said.
"You don't get extra time at a fire scene," Wirzbicki said.
Lenotti said he has worked as an acting captain dozens of times. Fire Chief Robert McGrath said there is little difference between the amount of quick-thinking skills needed by captains and lieutenants, Lenotti's current rank.
"A lieutenant could be the first person on an emergency scene," McGrath said.
Lenotti's attorney, Michael Colombo, said the city's handling of the case is "egregious."
"I intend to vigorously pursue all avenues of justice so this type of violation does not occur again to anyone," Colombo said.
Kitchen and other disability rights experts said the city is not following accepted practice under disability rights law. They said employers can refuse accommodations only on narrow grounds.
They can refuse to give extra time, for instance, if the test closely simulates the real-life job, said Scott LaBarre, a Colorado attorney and chairman of the American Bar Association's Commission on Mental Health and Physical Disability Law.
If the test were a simulated fire scene or hazardous materials spill, the city would be justified in denying Lenotti's request for extra time, LaBarre said.
The city uses a 100-question multiple-choice test, officials said. That likely does not satisfy the requirements, LaBarre, Kitchen and other experts said.
"What it comes down to is whether the test is really emblematic of the job," LaBarre said.
City officials said they interpreted the law differently. It makes little sense to give someone extra time on the test if taking extra time means they likely won't get hired, they said.
"You don't have an absolute right to testing accommodations," said Michael Toma, the city attorney handling Lenotti's case.
There were other problems, Toma said. Lenotti did not submit his request for extra time properly and may not meet the definition of disabled under the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, he said.
To qualify as disabled under the act, a person must show the disability "substantially limits a major life activity," experts said.
Lenotti said ADHD impairs his reading and writing. Both are designated as "major life activities," the experts said.
City officials would not say what led them to conclude Lenotti is not disabled.
Copyright © 2007, Southern Connecticut Newspapers, Inc.