Required speedos, what do you guys think?
Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 6:27 am
Lifeguard, 61, sues state for firing him after he refused to wear Speedo
BY THOMAS ZAMBITO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Thursday, August 18th 2011, 4:00 AM
Stephen Barcelo for News
Lifeguard Roy Lester, 58, said he lost his job after 40 years at the beach after he refused to wear a Speedo.
LINE IN THE SAND
Speedos and Age
Do you think Roy Lester should be forced to wear a Speedo on the job?
Yes, if it's the uniform and everyone else has to wear it.
No, not if doesn't prevent him from performing his duties.
Not sure.
Roy Lester is out to prove that no man above the age of 50 has any business wearing a skimpy, form-hugging Speedo.
In 2007, Lester was forced out of the Jones Beach lifeguard job he had held for four decades when he was told he had to squeeze into a Speedo for the annual swim test.
The 61-year-old Long Island man, who preferred his slightly more modest pair of biking shorts, refused and lost his job.
Lester sued the state, claiming age discrimination, arguing the Speedo is for the washboard stomach set, not aging dads like him.
"I wore a Speedo when I was in my 20s," Lester said. "But come on. There should be a law prohibiting anyone over the age of 50 from wearing a Speedo."
Lester's swimsuit suit against the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation was dismissed on technical grounds in 2008. So was another suit Lester filed in 2009.
Last week, in a setback to the state attorney general, an appeals court reinstated his claim. Lester's case could go to trial this year or next in Nassau County.
Lester believes the Speedo edict was an attempt to rid Jones Beach of its aging lifeguards. The former lifeguard union head estimates that more than 80% of Jones Beach lifeguards are older than 40.
"This was not right," said Lester, a bankruptcy lawyer who is representing himself in the age discrimination claim. "They were just trying to get rid of the older guys. To me the whole key to being a good lifeguard is experience. An older guy sees a save before anyone else. You know the water."
Lester has butted heads with bosses before. In a 2006 union newsletter posting, he accused officials of disciplining Jewish lifeguards more often than non-Jews.
State officials declined to comment on the suit.
Long Island lifeguards must pass a more rigorous array of tests than lifeguards elsewhere in the state in order to work at one of eight state beaches.
Male candidates must wear "boxer, briefs or board shorts" during a 100-yard swim they must finish in 75 seconds, according to state standards.
In the city, prospective lifeguards are required only to wear a bathing suit; its size and make are unspecified.
State officials wouldn't say whether there was a Speedo-only policy in place when Lester showed up for his 100-yard swim in 2007 and again in 2008.
"I could have passed that test in dungarees," said Lester, an accomplished triathlete who last week finished at the top of his age group in a lifeguarding competition held in Cape May, N.J.
Fellow lifeguards sporting biker shorts to their annual test relented and donned the Speedo, Lester says.
For now, the father of three has settled for working as a lifeguard at the private Atlantic Beach near his Long Beach home. Three days a week, he and others do an hourlong open-water swim off Neptune Beach.
"At a certain point you have to stand up and say this isn't right," Lester says. "I sat in a lifeguard chair for 40 years and I loved it. To me, to back down would have made me a hypocrite."
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/201 ... z1VO28jV3Z
BY THOMAS ZAMBITO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Thursday, August 18th 2011, 4:00 AM
Stephen Barcelo for News
Lifeguard Roy Lester, 58, said he lost his job after 40 years at the beach after he refused to wear a Speedo.
LINE IN THE SAND
Speedos and Age
Do you think Roy Lester should be forced to wear a Speedo on the job?
Yes, if it's the uniform and everyone else has to wear it.
No, not if doesn't prevent him from performing his duties.
Not sure.
Roy Lester is out to prove that no man above the age of 50 has any business wearing a skimpy, form-hugging Speedo.
In 2007, Lester was forced out of the Jones Beach lifeguard job he had held for four decades when he was told he had to squeeze into a Speedo for the annual swim test.
The 61-year-old Long Island man, who preferred his slightly more modest pair of biking shorts, refused and lost his job.
Lester sued the state, claiming age discrimination, arguing the Speedo is for the washboard stomach set, not aging dads like him.
"I wore a Speedo when I was in my 20s," Lester said. "But come on. There should be a law prohibiting anyone over the age of 50 from wearing a Speedo."
Lester's swimsuit suit against the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation was dismissed on technical grounds in 2008. So was another suit Lester filed in 2009.
Last week, in a setback to the state attorney general, an appeals court reinstated his claim. Lester's case could go to trial this year or next in Nassau County.
Lester believes the Speedo edict was an attempt to rid Jones Beach of its aging lifeguards. The former lifeguard union head estimates that more than 80% of Jones Beach lifeguards are older than 40.
"This was not right," said Lester, a bankruptcy lawyer who is representing himself in the age discrimination claim. "They were just trying to get rid of the older guys. To me the whole key to being a good lifeguard is experience. An older guy sees a save before anyone else. You know the water."
Lester has butted heads with bosses before. In a 2006 union newsletter posting, he accused officials of disciplining Jewish lifeguards more often than non-Jews.
State officials declined to comment on the suit.
Long Island lifeguards must pass a more rigorous array of tests than lifeguards elsewhere in the state in order to work at one of eight state beaches.
Male candidates must wear "boxer, briefs or board shorts" during a 100-yard swim they must finish in 75 seconds, according to state standards.
In the city, prospective lifeguards are required only to wear a bathing suit; its size and make are unspecified.
State officials wouldn't say whether there was a Speedo-only policy in place when Lester showed up for his 100-yard swim in 2007 and again in 2008.
"I could have passed that test in dungarees," said Lester, an accomplished triathlete who last week finished at the top of his age group in a lifeguarding competition held in Cape May, N.J.
Fellow lifeguards sporting biker shorts to their annual test relented and donned the Speedo, Lester says.
For now, the father of three has settled for working as a lifeguard at the private Atlantic Beach near his Long Beach home. Three days a week, he and others do an hourlong open-water swim off Neptune Beach.
"At a certain point you have to stand up and say this isn't right," Lester says. "I sat in a lifeguard chair for 40 years and I loved it. To me, to back down would have made me a hypocrite."
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/201 ... z1VO28jV3Z
