News Flash: LAPD Can Fire Unqualified Officer Who Was Hired By Mistake

When Eugene Quinn applied to be a Los Angeles police officer, he failed the medical exam because of a hearing impairment. But due to a clerical error, he was told to report for further training exams, which he passed. Quinn graduated from the police academy and was assigned to patrol duty before his hearing problem became apparent. After another exam confirmed his impairment, Quinn was terminated. He sued under the Americans with Disabilities Act. But a California Court of Appeal threw out his lawsuit on the grounds that he was not a qualified worker under the ADA. Quinn’s inability to localize sound—which is particularly important to police officers in split-second, life-threatening situations—presented a serious hazard to himself and others and rendered him unqualified to be a cop. The court said common sense precluded Quinn from parlaying the city’s mistake into a monetary award simply because the city discovered its error and rectified it by discharging him.