Female Submariners: What Will Be the Next "Right Thing to Do"?

The Associated Press - March 4, 2011

Pa. man drops police lawsuit over hearing aids

A Pennsylvania man with hearing loss has dropped his federal lawsuit against state police over guidelines that excluded otherwise qualified candidates from consideration for employment.

The lawsuit sought a change to the rule forbidding the use of hearing aids in tests needed for certification so that Furman had the opportunity to become a municipal police officer. State police oversee the certification process for officers in Pennsylvania, but certification for sheriff's deputies is covered under a separate program.

Furman began working for the sheriff's office last fall after spending more than four years as a parking officer with the Bellefonte Police Department. He also worked as a county constable, an elected position that involves serving papers and transporting prisoners.

Furman said he decided to drop the lawsuit after receiving a good valuation from Sheriff Denny Nau in January that allowed him to enroll in the sheriff's academy. The dismissal was finalized Tuesday in federal court.

The aspiring policeman said he has been accepted into a statewide sheriff's training academy through his new job with the Centre County sheriff's office, and he will be able to achieve most of the same goals he sought from the lawsuit filed in June.

The son of a police officer, Bill Furman had wanted to follow in his father's footsteps since age 4, when he began using hearing aids. Furman wasn't being rejected by a potential employer but was turned away from becoming eligible for the certification, said his lawyer, who also pointed out that police guidelines allow eyeglasses for meeting vision requirements.
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Currently, Sonar Technicians must have fairly acute hearing, although automation and hearing aids will someday overcome human ineptitude. Is their any good legal reason, however, nuclear personnel and officers must be fully hearing capable? That is what we thought.
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Submarines are always silent and strange.