Last week, Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled that FDNY’s 1999 and 2002 entrance examinations were “intentionally” discriminatory.

In his decision, Garaufis wrote: “There has been one persistent stain on the Fire Department’s record. When it comes to being a New York firefighter, blacks and other minorities face entry barriers that other applicants do not.”

Now, the same judge has issued an order to impose a temporary hiring quota in which 2 blacks and one hispanic will be hired for every five applicants who pass the test until there are 293 minorities added to the ranks of the FDNY.

The quota was just one of the corrective actions that Garaufis laid out in a 57-page ruling in response to a bias suit filed against the city in May 2007 by the feds, the Vulcan Society, which represents black firefighters, and the Center for Constitutional Rights.

Also under the judge’s ruling, approximately 7,400 minority applicants who sat for the two racially skewed exams may be eligible for monetary damages.

Read the full story here.

John Mitchell is a fire Lieutenant and paramedic in suburban Chicago. He is a fire and EMS instructor, certified fire investigator and Chicago Blackhawks fan. He is the editor of FireDaily and co-creator of FirefighterNetCast.