Suit: Lifeguard fired over Speedo refusal

• Tweet

LONG BEACH, N.Y., Aug. 18 (UPI) -- A 61-year-old man's lawsuit against the state of New York claims he lost his job as a lifeguard because he refused to wear a Speedo during his annual swim test.

Roy Lester of Long Beach said he was employed as a lifeguard for four decades at Jones Beach before he was told he would have to change out of his bike shorts and into a skimpy Speedo for his 2007 test, the New York Daily News reported Thursday.

Lester said he was fired after he refused to change.

"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."

State regulations require lifeguards to wear "boxers, briefs or board shorts" during their annual 100-yard swim test.

Lester initially filed a lawsuit against the state Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation in 2008, but it was dismissed on technical grounds. A second lawsuit was dismissed in 2009, but it was reinstated by an appeals court last week.

State officials declined to comment, the Daily News said.