5 years ago 20 new haven firefighters were denied promotion based on thier race. The 19 white and one hispanic firefighter were denied promotion after a legnthy selection process and scoring highest on the competitive exams. Nobody was promoted and the case is now headed for appeal in front of the United States Supreme Court. This case is a potential civil rights blockbust and can be googled under ricci v. destefano.

These firefighters need assistance to defray legal costs and are selling t-shirts and accepting doantions as a fundraiser. Thier site is www.newhaven20.com....please help out. This case can change the fire service. come on how about $20 for the 20...its a secure site.

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I smell something fishy............................. :(
I to sense something amiss.....This is a good place to post your concerns and/or ask for assistance....NOT a place to solicit money from people.....Paul
And I noticed that in your profile that you were "Senior command staff" when rank/status mentioned....are you part of the problem or part of the solution.....??
As far as your plight is concerned I hope it all works out fairly and correctly in the end...as far as keeping my comments to myself....well if you don't want comments then don't put your dirty wash out for others to see...the last time I checked we still had the freedom of speech...at least Bush didn't take that away from us...and I hate to tell you neither will you....Good luck sir.....Paul
From one of the on-line sources that showed up in a Google search:

"For employers, this case demonstrates the problem that companies face all the time. Typically, a decision affecting one employee, will leave another unhappy. And even when the employer is trying to do the "right" thing by complying with Title VII (even if there is political overtones) they still could face a lawsuit by a group of employees unhappy with the decision. Strict compliance with the law and getting sound legal advice is the best strategy for avoiding the minefields that continue to exist in this area."

Yes, but... aren't there civil service laws with a well defined path to promotion? The 20 faithfully prepared for the exam and passed. That's how civil service is supposed to work, is it not?

At any rate - good luck in your quest, Brother.
I just read some of the case which was difficult because you have a website selling shirts but have no real history of the cause, I had to go back to the other site to read through the past court and lawyer findings. Though I respect what you are doing I have a question for you...

Does your union contract have verbage on how the negotiated promotional process should be run? If you do not have any verbage than Management Rights can pretty much squash the testing process as it is THEIR process and not yours. From what I have read, they never appointed anybody from the testing process and only placed guys into the vacant positions as Acting Officers. Some of which I read failed the testing process, so I suspect your union contract doesn't have verbage on "Acting Officer" qualifications either.

As far as your plight for this effects every fire department, not likely. My union contract verbage clearly states we buy a test from a third party testing company, who administers the test, whether we have interviews or full hands-on assessment center and the final (third part) being a chief officer's interview. The verbage includes percentages for each section, chief interview part three has the least percentage impact tally so they can't turn the list upside down. Actually they are not allowed to see the percentages from the first two parts. We also know who actually tallies the promotional scores, plus we have negotiated verbage as #1 testing candidate WINS the job, none of that Chief can pick anyone from the top 3 or 5 crap.

Our tests are purchased from a national testing company as well and they are definately a racially neutral test. Not even sure what a non-neutral racial test would look like? If a guy, can't pull this information from the IFSTA, Bruno or Branigan Reading list then your are not going to score well anyway.

Best of luck with the upcoming proceedings...
I wish you luck with your quest.
There is nothing fishy here.

I remember reading about this a few years back. If I remember right. I believe the fire commissioner was black in this case. Racial. I mean that is what this post is about, isn't it? If this issue was in reverse it would have been settled by now.

FETC. The out come of this law suit can effect your contract negotiations in the future.

Good luck 20
Here is the link to the Supreme Court case petition thats was mentioned earlier. This will explain in more detail rather than the 2 paragaphs on www.adversity.net.

http://www.adversity.net/newhavenfd/Petition_for_Writ_of_Certiorari...

It's a rather lengthy file
Make sure the ALL the facts are presented when telling the story. To here the other side go to http://www.strengthequalsdiversity.com/


Diversity Is Strength!!!
didnt they think something would be done about this.. i mean come one...

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