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Supreme Court Rules Black Firefighter Lawsuit Can Proceed
JESSE J. HOLLAND
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a group of African Americans did not wait too long to sue Chicago over a hiring test they challenged as discriminatory, freeing them to further press their case.
It is the second time in as many years that the high court has tackled discrimination in testing within the firefighting ranks. In a landmark case last year, the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision said New Haven, Conn., violated white firefighters' civil rights, throwing out an exam in which no African-Americans scored high enough to be promoted to lieutenant or captain.
In Monday's opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the court that the applicants' lawsuit over a city of Chicago test used to weed out potential firefighter trainee applicants was not too late.
Anyone who scored 64 or below was deemed not qualified. But the city set a second cutoff score of 89 points.
Officials told applicants who scored below 89 but above 64 that although they passed the test, they likely would not be hired because of the large number of people who scored 89 or above. The majority of those in the top-scoring group were white; only 11 percent were black.
People are supposed to sue within 300 days after an employment action they seek to challenge as unlawful.
The city says the clock started when it announced the use of the test scores on Jan. 26, 1996. The first lawsuit in the case was filed on March 31, 1997, 430 days after the city announced the results.
But the plaintiffs say a new act of discrimination also happened each time the scores were used in hiring firefighter trainees between May 1996 and October 2001.
A U.S. District judge agreed with the black applicants, but the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that decision.
In Monday's high court ruling, Scalia said: "It may be true that the City's January 1996 decision to adopt the cutoff score (and to create a list of the applicants above it) gave rise to a freestanding disparate impact claim. ... But it does not follow that no new violation occurred _ and no new claims could arise _ when the City implemented that decision down the road. If petitioners could prove that the City 'used' the 'practice' that 'causes a disparate impact,' they could prevail."
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court ruled Monday that a group of African Americans did not wait too long to sue Chicago over a hiring test they challenged as discriminatory, freeing them to further press their case.
It is the second time in as many years that the high court has tackled discrimination in testing within the firefighting ranks. In a landmark case last year, the Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision said New Haven, Conn., violated white firefighters' civil rights, throwing out an exam in which no African-Americans scored high enough to be promoted to lieutenant or captain.
In Monday's opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the court that the applicants' lawsuit over a city of Chicago test used to weed out potential firefighter trainee applicants was not too late.
Anyone who scored 64 or below was deemed not qualified. But the city set a second cutoff score of 89 points.
Officials told applicants who scored below 89 but above 64 that although they passed the test, they likely would not be hired because of the large number of people who scored 89 or above. The majority of those in the top-scoring group were white; only 11 percent were black.
People are supposed to sue within 300 days after an employment action they seek to challenge as unlawful.
The city says the clock started when it announced the use of the test scores on Jan. 26, 1996. The first lawsuit in the case was filed on March 31, 1997, 430 days after the city announced the results.
But the plaintiffs say a new act of discrimination also happened each time the scores were used in hiring firefighter trainees between May 1996 and October 2001.
A U.S. District judge agreed with the black applicants, but the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned that decision.
In Monday's high court ruling, Scalia said: "It may be true that the City's January 1996 decision to adopt the cutoff score (and to create a list of the applicants above it) gave rise to a freestanding disparate impact claim. ... But it does not follow that no new violation occurred _ and no new claims could arise _ when the City implemented that decision down the road. If petitioners could prove that the City 'used' the 'practice' that 'causes a disparate impact,' they could prevail."
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 Lani on
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It is my understanding that it is not uncommon to have a "minimum" passing grade established by the district/city that is hiring....as long as it's public knowledge I can't see how this law suit would have any grounds at all. Knowing your material enough to achieve above minimum passing has nothing to do with skin color in my opinion.
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Permalink Reply by Chance on
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Ah just like St. Louis..... Because the courts found that the entry level test was not fair to everyone because it had BASIC english and math questions on it.
I guess it doesn't matter if you are qualified for the job anymore or for that matter, WANT to do the job....
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Permalink Reply by Vic Silverfish on
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OK, the Supremes in this case (I've only read the article here) have only said that they can proceed with their lawsuit. This is probably the right decision. You're supposed to initiate action within 300 days of the discriminatory event, the two sides have different definitions of what that event is. Fair enough.
That said, I hope they toss the actual case out with all speed. My gods, how do you assess someone's qualifications? We can't test, because some people don't test well, we can't have a fitness test, because we run against ADA rules, we can't have an interview process, it's too open to personal bias, etc, etc. Fine. Everyone gets given a number, and we draw the successful applicants out of a hat.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Conway on
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Just as using age is profiling
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Permalink Reply by Bob Fiorio on
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I dont hate to say this but its not only in Chicago. This type of nonsence goes on in New York State all the time
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Permalink Reply by Bill Brierton on
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Shouldn't people be judged on their ability vice any other means? This job isn't for those who think it is all glory to ride a fire engine. It takes knowledge and skill. You should earn your chance on your ability to pass the test and not based on any other merit.
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Permalink Reply by lutan1 on
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Officials told applicants who scored below 89 but above 64 that although they passed the test, they likely would not be hired because of the large number of people who scored 89 or above.
The score is the score. When will the race card stop being thrown around?
I have no doubt that there are race related issues in some FD's, but lets not make it something it's not....
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Permalink Reply by edward monahan on
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Let the best man or woman win. I dont care what color race creed religion gay straight happy sad or whatever they are. As long as they want the job, love the job, do best on testing and are real firefighters
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Permalink Reply by Jack/dt on
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Problem is, by allowing those that "passed" but with lower scores to be bumped up is actually a scathing indictment against the educational system in Chicago. Moreover if someone is going to sue because they couldn't do well enough on the test, it should be the Chicago School System, since they failed their students by graduating them without the requisite (and basic) reading, writing and comprehension skills. Or they could just sue the fire department for using assuming the could read and write.
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