Breast implants no obstacle to police service

Woman with breast implants suitable for police service

05/03/2014

As the Administrative Court of Berlin has decided, breast implants are no reason to refuse an applicant to the police. Health damage or early retirement are no more likely than in women who have no implants.

Breast implants no obstacle to police service
As the Administrative Court of Berlin has ruled in a judgment now published (Ref .: VG 7 K 117.13), the recruitment of a candidate for the police transit service may not be rejected on the grounds that she lacks her health qualifications because of breast implants. The court said that typical police operations and the wearing of protective vests do not endanger women with implants more than applicants who do not. Because of the fundamental importance of the case, the leap revision was admitted to the Federal Administrative Court.

Applicant dismissed for breast implants
In the negotiated case, a woman had applied in 2012 for service in the Berlin protection police. It was then rejected on the grounds that the breast implants justified their ill-health. The police argued that the applicant could not be assigned to missions requiring the wearing of protective clothing. This is because the associated pressure is associated with a greater risk of pathological proliferation of the connective tissue. The woman fought against it with a complaint.

Implants do not make less powerful
Against the background of an interim change in the case law of the Federal Administrative Court, the Administrative Court has now given the plaintiff right. Applicants who are currently eligible to work should be denied health fitness only if it is likely that it will lead to early retirement or to regular and long illnesses. These principles would also apply to the recruitment of police officers. As the Berlin court found, the applicant was neither able to determine that she was less efficient with the implants, nor that she was significantly more at risk when performing her duties than other applicants without breast implants.

Early retirement is not likely
A medical specialist interviewed stated that typical police operations and the wearing of protective clothing would not put the applicant at greater risk than applicants without implants. Therefore, early retirement or long periods of illness are not predominantly likely. The North Rhine-Westphalia Ministry of the Interior had decided last December that policewomen in Bielefeld do not have to take off their bra at official health checks. The police doctor had examined the women there at driving fitness checks on breast implants. (Sb)