NYC Judge Approves Revised Firefighter Exam

The city may move forward with the results of its latest firefighter’s exam after a federal judge’s approval Friday, more than five years after a discrimination lawsuit forced a change in the exam.
NYC Judge Approves Revised Firefighter Exam
Zachary Stieber
9/30/2012
Updated:
10/1/2015
<a><img class="size-large wp-image-1781263" title="Firefighters on 28th st, Manhattan, New York." src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/20120110-firefighters-IMG_8335-Amal+Chen.jpg" alt="Firefighters on 28th st, Manhattan, New York." width="590" height="395"/></a>
Firefighters on 28th st, Manhattan, New York.

NEW YORK—The city may move forward with the results of its latest firefighter’s exam after a federal judge’s approval Friday, more than five years after a discrimination lawsuit forced a change in the exam.

More than 42,000 candidates took the 2012 exam, administered earlier this year. The test is typically administered every four years.

Discrimination Charge

The Vulcan Society, a fraternal group of black firefighters, and the federal government brought a lawsuit against the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) in September 2007, claiming discrimination against black and Hispanic applicants in prior tests.

Brooklyn federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis agreed the test contained discriminatory practices, ruling in favor of the lawsuit. He said, “Approximately 1,000 additional black and Hispanic candidates would have been considered for appointment as FDNY firefighters had it not been for the disparities resulting from the examinations.”

Additionally, those actually hired didn’t get promoted as quickly as they should have.

Disparities included written tests, which, intentionally or not, screened out black and Hispanic persons who were qualified at a significantly higher rate than white applicants, according to the Department of Justice. The examinations also “did not predict which applicants would be best able to perform the job,” so the court found the city had violated discrimination law.

The FDNY makeup has not been representative of New York, since black residents are about a quarter of the city’s population. When the case was filed in 2007, black firefighters made up 3.4 percent of FDNY’s force.

“Employment as a New York City firefighter—arguably ’the best job in the world'—has
remained a stubborn bastion of white male privilege,” Garaufis stated in 2011.

Change in Test

But the city appears to have crafted an acceptable exam over the last year in response to the court order. The FDNY launched a broad campaign to attract a diverse pool of applicants last year for the 2012 test. The Vulcan Society and the Department of Justice, along with Special Master Mary Jo White, who was appointed to oversee the crafting, have approved of the newest exam.

Of the 42,231 people who sat the exam in March and April, 9,417 are likely to be hired, according to the FDNY. Of those “likely hires,” 53.5 percent are white, 22.6 percent are Hispanic, 19.7 percent are black, and the remaining (less than 4 percent) are Asian or Native American. Around 95 percent of those likely to be hired will be men.

“We’re pleased that we can now begin hiring to fill the more than 650 current vacancies in the firefighter ranks,” said FDNY Commissioner Salvatore Cassano in a statement.

FDNY emergency medical technicians and paramedics who took the test as a promotional exam could enter the FDNY’s academy as early as January 2013. Test results will be published around Oct. 3.

At the same time, though, the city may still be liable for as much as $128 million as compensation to individuals subjected to the previous discriminatory practices.

A hearing including black and Hispanic individuals who took these tests and were harmed by the practices will be held Oct. 1 at the U.S. District Court at 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, Courtroom 4D, at 9 a.m. The hearing may extend multiple days.

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