QUINN V. MUSCARE
| Decision Date | 03 May 1976 |
| Citation | 425 U. S. 560 |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
FOR THE SEVENTH CIRCUIT
Writ of certiorari to review the Court of Appeals' judgment holding that respondent fireman was suspended without procedural due process for violating the challenged fire department personal appearance regulation, and expressing doubt as to the validity of such regulation, is dismissed as improvidently granted, where, following the grant of certiorari, this Court, in Kelley v. Johnson, ante P. 238, upheld a similar police department regulation, and the applicable civil service rules were revised to provide for pre-suspension hearings in all nonemergency cases.
520 F.2d 1212, certiorari dismissed as improvidently granted.
The respondent, a lieutenant in the Chicago Fire Department, was suspended from his job for a 29-day period in 1974 as a result of charges related to his violation of
the department's personal appearance regulation. [Footnote 1] Following the suspension, the respondent brought an action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois seeking an injunction and backpay on the ground that the regulation infringed his constitutional right to determine "the details of his personal appearance." [Footnote 2] The department defended the challenged regulation as a safety measure designed to insure proper functioning of gas masks worn by firefighters and as a means of promoting discipline in the department and the uniform, well groomed appearance of its members. After a hearing focusing on the operation of the self-contained breathing apparatus used by members of the department, the District Court found that the personal appearance regulation was justified "on safety grounds"
and that the respondent's goatee violated the regulation. Explaining that the other regulations cited in the discharge notice were not "relevant or pertinent to the issues," the court denied the respondent's motion for injunctive relief.
Following the grant of certiorari and the oral argument in this case, this Court in another case upheld a police department hair regulation similar to that challenged by the respondent in the present litigation. Kelley v. Johnson, ante P. 238. In that case, we concluded that "the overall need for discipline, esprit de corps, and uniformity" defeated the policeman's "claim based on the liberty guaranty of the Fourteenth Amendment." Ante at 425 U. S. 246, 425 U. S. 248. Kelley v. Johnson renders immaterial the District Court's factual determination regarding the
safety justification for the department's hair regulation about which the Court of Appeals expressed doubt. Moreover, after the grant of certiorari, this Court was informed that the Civil Service Commission of the city of Chicago had revised its rules to provide for pre-suspension hearings in all nonemergency cases. [Footnote 4] While this voluntary rule change was subject to rescission, counsel for the petitioner candidly advised the Court at oral argument that, even if the petitioner should prevail, it was very doubtful that the Commission would revert to its former suspension procedures.
In view of these developments,...
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Civil Service Assn. v. City and County of San Francisco
... ... Roth (1971) 408 U.S. 564, 573, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 33 L.Ed.2d 548.) ... [22 Cal.3d 565] Appellants Quinn, Pierce, Lottie, Tringali, Nash and Fowler allege denial of hearings and are entitled to a hearing as described herein. 8 Appellant Cross alleges ... Muscare v. Quinn (7th Cir. 1975) 520 F.2d 1212, 1215, certiorari dismissed (1976) 425 U.S. 560, 96 S.Ct. 1752, 48 L.Ed.2d 165, the court, citing Goss, ruled ... ...
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Hayes v. City of Wilmington
... ... To the extent this holding conflicts with the Seventh Circuit's decision in Muscare v. Quinn, 520 F.2d 1212 (C.A. 7, 1975), cert. dismissed as improvidently granted, 425 U.S. 560, 96 S.Ct. 1752, 48 L.Ed.2d 165 (1976), the Court ... ...
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East Hartford Ed. Ass'n v. Board of Ed. of Town of East Hartford, 118
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