State police to alter fitness standards that kept out women

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — The Pennsylvania State Police will pay more than $2 million into a compensation fund and are changing physical fitness standards to settle a lawsuit over how the agency's trooper-hiring practices ruled out otherwise qualified women.

The U.S. Justice Department announced the proposed settlement Tuesday of litigation that was launched seven years ago, leaving a federal judge in Harrisburg to give her final approval.

The police agency also has agreed to make it a priority to hire as many as 65 women who were affected by the prior fitness standards for entry-level trooper positions.

The Justice Department lawsuit claimed that nearly all male recruits met initial physical readiness tests, but about 30% of women failed. The state police have just over 4,500 sworn members, and 314 are women, the agency said Tuesday.

Communications director Ryan Tarkowski issued a statement saying the Pennsylvania State Police are committed to hiring the most qualified applicants, “with an emphasis on women and minority recruitment.”

The lawsuit said the physical fitness tests that screened out women included standards that were not required to perform a trooper's job duties.

The Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division argued different pass rates for men and women showed the tests had a disparate impact on women. If women had passed at the same rate as men, about 120 more women would have advanced in the hiring process, and about 45 would have made the force over a 10-year period, the Justice Department lawsuit said.

Under 2003 standards, 55% of women and 88% of men passed. Under 2009 standards, 73% of women and 98% of men passed, the court found.

The pending settlement prohibits the agency from using physical fitness tests that have a disparate impact on...