Dwarf Suing State of Florida for Dwarf-Tossing Ban

Tampa, Florida

Dave Flood, who appears on a morning radio talk show as "Dave the Dwarf," said he doesn't think the state can dictate how he earns his living.

"They assume because you have some physical handicap you can't make decisions for yourself," Flood said. "I don't have a mental handicap. I don't like the government telling me what I can and cannot do."

Flood says the state has no right to dictate how he earns a living. The lawsuit claims the dwarf-tossing ban violates Flood's constitutional rights. He doesn't see anything wrong with trying profit from his small stature. Flood says if he were seven-feet-tall, he'd be making money playing basketball.

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court names Gov. Jeb Bush and the head of the state agency which enforces the 1989 law. The law allows the state to revoke the liquor license or fine a bar that allows dwarf tossing, an activity that was popular in some Florida bars in the late 1980s.

Flood wants to wear a harness with handles so patrons at bars can pay to pick him up and toss him onto an air mattress or a padded area, his lawsuit said. The lawsuit, which does not seek damages, contends the ban is unconstitutional.

Neither Bush nor the state agency had seen the lawsuit and would not comment on it. Only Florida and New York have laws banning dwarf tossing in bars.

Cara Egan, vice president of public relations for Little People of America in Lubbock, Texas, called Flood's lawsuit a publicity stunt that ignores the physical dangers of dwarf tossing.

"I suggest there are plenty of other ways for him to make a fool out of himself that are legal," she said. "I suggest he take advantage of those."

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