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New Haven Firefighter Files Suit Over Exam Scoring
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - A black New Haven firefighter filed a lawsuit Thursday against the city over a 2003 promotion exam that was the subject of a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June.
Firefighter Michael Briscoe alleged in the federal lawsuit that he was unfairly denied a chance for promotion to lieutenant because the city wrongly gave more weight to the test's written part than the oral section.
He also alleged the scoring method - 60 percent based on the written portion and 40 percent on the oral interview - has a disparate effect on African-Americans.
Briscoe said he learned his scores, rank on the promotions list and other information only after it was disclosed as part of the U.S. Supreme Court case.
New Haven scrapped the exam after learning no black firefighters and only two Hispanics were likely to be promoted to lieutenant or captain based on the results. Officials said they acted to avoid a lawsuit from minorities.
The Supreme Court ruled in June that the city should not have scrapped the list, saying white firefighters were denied promotions unfairly because of their race.
Victor Bolden, the city's attorney, said Thursday that New Haven "has been focused on moving forward, not backwards" since the Supreme Court's decision.
He said the city wants the test results certified once the matter returns to U.S. District Court so the city can make promotions based on the list. He did not specifically address claims in Briscoe's lawsuit but said the city "will continue to pursue better means for making future promotions in the department."
Briscoe's lawsuit said he had the top score of the 77 lieutenant candidates, but that his score on the more heavily weighted written test caused him to be ranked 24th on the eligibility list for promotion.
"This weighting reduced the validity of the overall selection process; it was arbitrarily chosen, without any pretense that it was job related; it was contrary to standard practice among similar public safety agencies ... and it will prevent the plaintiff from being promoted to the rank of lieutenant, even though he is one of the most highly qualified candidates," the lawsuit read.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Firefighter Michael Briscoe alleged in the federal lawsuit that he was unfairly denied a chance for promotion to lieutenant because the city wrongly gave more weight to the test's written part than the oral section.
He also alleged the scoring method - 60 percent based on the written portion and 40 percent on the oral interview - has a disparate effect on African-Americans.
Briscoe said he learned his scores, rank on the promotions list and other information only after it was disclosed as part of the U.S. Supreme Court case.
New Haven scrapped the exam after learning no black firefighters and only two Hispanics were likely to be promoted to lieutenant or captain based on the results. Officials said they acted to avoid a lawsuit from minorities.
The Supreme Court ruled in June that the city should not have scrapped the list, saying white firefighters were denied promotions unfairly because of their race.
Victor Bolden, the city's attorney, said Thursday that New Haven "has been focused on moving forward, not backwards" since the Supreme Court's decision.
He said the city wants the test results certified once the matter returns to U.S. District Court so the city can make promotions based on the list. He did not specifically address claims in Briscoe's lawsuit but said the city "will continue to pursue better means for making future promotions in the department."
Briscoe's lawsuit said he had the top score of the 77 lieutenant candidates, but that his score on the more heavily weighted written test caused him to be ranked 24th on the eligibility list for promotion.
"This weighting reduced the validity of the overall selection process; it was arbitrarily chosen, without any pretense that it was job related; it was contrary to standard practice among similar public safety agencies ... and it will prevent the plaintiff from being promoted to the rank of lieutenant, even though he is one of the most highly qualified candidates," the lawsuit read.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by James Copas on
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Spot on Jim! I have yet to figure out how a written exam with questions pertaining to our job can be racially biased. If you know your job, you should pass the written exam without any problems, regardless of the color of your skin.
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Permalink Reply by Justin Emery Tomlinson on
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How is that true, Damb that just makes me mad, You have to study for the test you have to apply your self, Jobs like ares are not just handed out, It takes time and if your lazy and don't study you don't pass. now he wants to cry about it.
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Permalink Reply by Ike on
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This is the problem with America. We are spending more time trying not to hurt someones feelings and less about getting the job done the best it can. I think enough is enough with the equal rights thing.. Standards have lowered enough, so now is a time to step up and get promotions on ability and not race. If we are all equal then we should all have a shot and the best one wins.
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Permalink Reply by Alan Shaw on
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Maybe I am missing something here, but if the test questions were job related and the interview questions were job related, it really shouldn't matter which is weighted more. It seems to me the only reason this 60/40 split would hurt a candidate would be if they had reading and writing problems.
There is also the factor that a written test is color blind and an oral interview is not. So the disparate effect is that the scantron machine doesn't know who the black (or white) candidates are so it can't fudge the numbers like a subjective interview panel can.
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Permalink Reply by Fireyladd - Retired Chief Sharp on
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Dang! I studied all night for my eye exam and didnt pass it. I think it discriminated against me because I am blond, blue eyed and white......................
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Permalink Reply by Jake Fireman on
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This case has and Im sure will bring more and more attention to the hiring and promotional aspects of the fire service as a whole.
Lets take a quick second and look at two things that always seem to happen in testing.
A.) If you didnt make the top of the list....it was unfair.
B.) If you did make the top of the list...the test was absolutely perfect.
OK OK OK....A broad generalization I know...thats just how it seems that it always works out and it doesnt matter what race, creed, gender, etc.
Moving on...
Departments are looking to hire or promote the "most qualified" people for the job. This does not always mean the "best", or how WE perceive the best. This is up to the pencil pushers and bean counters that really DO NOT have much to do with the fire service at all. Sad....but true.
If I am not mistaken, cities, towns, counties, whatever usually give a test with more then one phase for just that reason. They are trying to find the BEST OVERALL Candidate. Sometimes, probably a lot of times, the person who scores the "highest" on one phase, may not be the best overall candidate for the job. If you took an entrance test and you were the best person on the agility, but you were only able to get a score of 70% on the written and 70% on the oral, you may not be hired. Discrimination? NOPE! You just were not the "most" qualified.
Some departments "factor" in seniority. To the newer candidate taking the promotional exam that is UNFAIR. Afterall you scored the highest on the written or the oral or both, but when seniority is factored you did not get promoted...FAIR? Maybe not. But you did know that that was the way the scoring was set up BEFORE the test.
The 60/40 split. Ive never taken a test that did not factor one aspect higher then the other. FAIR? I don't know, however, I do know that I always knew this at the start of the testing process. If I knew that the written was scored higher, I may study harder for the written...and vice versa.
I think it is always interesting that nobody complains until the results are "IN". If you knew at the start of the process that a certain type of test was discriminatory, you should have complained THEN....Not when you didn't get promoted or hired.
Sad Fact. There is no testing process that will ever be 100% fair to 100% of the candidates. It just wont happen.
New Haven has had to suffer greatly for this one testing process. I hope they can put it behind them and just get on with being a fire department. It SHOULD never matter if you are black, white, young, old, all those things. It SHOULD matter that YOU did your best and that hiring and promotional exams are as fair as they can be.
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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on
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I agree Jake, it should be the best overall candidate or most qualified to get the job and that should account for just more than who scores the highest on a test. I also like how it does seem that a test seems to be biased AFTER the test results are out, rarely do you hear about test takers saying the test was biased after they just took it.
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