NO not that,
but finally a ruling in fairness, that if you are not qualified then you may not get the job. How sad are the statistics in this that say the percentage of minorities that wont be able to make the grade. But I rejoice because the men who are best qualified for the job will be put in positions of responsibility and we wont be dealing with incompetence. How long have we had to put up with junk in order to advance affirmative action at the price of fairness and poor job performance poor customer service. Just as a side note the same supreme court ruled that the strip search of the girl a few weeks ago was illegal, did shield the people from going after the people responsible.
High court ruling buoys white Buffalo firefighters
By Dan Herbeck
New Haven, Conn., city officials tossed out the results of a promotional exam for firefighters because no African-Americans and only two Hispanics scored high enough to receive promotions.
In Buffalo, essentially the same thing happened after a promotional exam given in 2002.
So when the U. S. Supreme Court ruled Monday that New Haven officials acted illegally and that white firefighters were unfairly denied promotions, it raised the hopes of 13 white Buffalo firefighters that they will be promoted and get full back pay.
“In New Haven, you had a city that refused to make promotions based on a fear of lawsuits. In Buffalo, you had the same thing,” said Andrew P. Fleming, attorney for the 13 Buffalo firefighters. “We feel that the Supreme Court ruling is going to solidify our arguments against the city. . . . We’re pleased.”
But Adam W. Perry, one of the attorneys representing Buffalo in the same case, said the situations in Buffalo and New Haven were much different. He believes that the Supreme Court ruling will bolster the city’s case.
“Buffalo’s actions were taken in the context of actual pending litigation,” Perry said. “New Haven’s actions were taken out of mere concern that lawsuits would be filed.”
It’s too soon to know whether the Supreme Court’s ruling will have any effect on two local cases — one each in state and federal court — involving firefighter promotions in Buffalo.
White firefighters in the city are likely to be pleased by the ruling, while at least some minority firefighters are likely to be unhappy with it, said Daniel Cunningham, president of Buffalo Professional Firefighters Local 282. He noted that his union represents both groups.
“I do hope the Supreme Court decision gives our city some direction on how to handle these situations,” he said. “But sometimes, our city doesn’t go in the right direction.”
Cunningham estimated that at least 70 to 80 firefighters, mostly whites, were passed over for promotions because the city refused to promote people off the 2002 promotional list.
In what many people see as an important ruling on job discrimination, the Supreme Court ruled that New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to receive promotions based on the results, while 17 white firefighters could expect promotions.
Government officials in New Haven said they scrapped the exam results because they feared that minorities would file lawsuits.
That is not a legally acceptable reason for tossing out promotional test results, the Supreme Court ruled in a 5-4 decision. “Fear of litigation alone cannot justify an employer’s reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations and qualified for promotions,” Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote.
An employer needs a “strong basis in evidence” to believe it will be held liable in a discrimination lawsuit, and New Haven had no such evidence, he added.
In Buffalo, the two pending lawsuits claim that the city ran exams for Fire Department promotions that discriminated against African-Americans.
The federal suit has been pending before U. S. District Judge John T. Curtin since 1998. A group called Men of Color Helping All (MOCHA) claims the city intentionally discriminated against African-Americans in its 2002 promotional exams. The city denies the allegations.
Curtin ruled in March that the city’s 2002 exam did not violate federal civil rights laws. MOCHA appealed that ruling.
MOCHA’s attorney, Thomas S. Gill, filed court papers last month claiming city officials “knew the exam had a disparate impact on African-Americans but used it anyway.”
Gill said Monday he does not think the Supreme Court ruling will affect the legal dispute in Buffalo’s federal court.
“The Supreme Court decision doesn’t really address the issue we’re dealing with in Buffalo,” Gill said. “The issue in Buffalo is whether the test that was given really measures whether somebody will be a good fire lieutenant.”
In a lawsuit before State Supreme Court Judge John A. Michalek, 13 firefighters claim the city illegally blocked their promotions by allowing the 2002 promotional list to run out.
“The [U. S.] Supreme Court ruled that fear of lawsuits by minorities does not constitute a legal reason for keeping successful white candidates from getting their promotions,” Fleming said. “We feel that the Supreme Court ruling has eliminated most, if not all, of the rulings that the city has.”
Perry disagreed. He said the city has been under a federal court minority hiring decree since the 1970s and had every legitimate reason to be concerned about lawsuits over the promotions.
Firefighter Thomas Barrett said he is happy about the Supreme Court’s ruling, but he figures the high court’s decision came about seven years too late to do him any good.
Barrett, 47, is one of more than 70 Buffalo firefighters who lost out on promotions because of the ongoing court battle over allegations that the 2002 promotional exam discriminated against African-Americans.
“I’m thrilled for the firefighters in New Haven. I hope it benefits them and other firefighters in other cities,” Barrett said. “But it’s too late to help me.”
Barrett — who is not one of Fleming’s clients — scored well on the 2002 test and was in line for a promotion to lieutenant. But the city promoted only a few firefighters from the list and then stopped because of its fears of legal action.
Barrett said he took another promotional test in 2008 and passed it but did not do well enough to become a likely candidate for promotion. “After what happened to me [in 2002], I was very upset,” he said. “When I took the next test, my heart really wasn’t in it.”
Theodore Kirkland, a retired Buffalo police officer who fought against discrimination in both the police and fire departments in the 1960s and 1970s, said he was not surprised by the ruling.
“This is a conservative court,” Kirkland said. “To say that not enough blacks did well on a test, that isn’t enough. You have to show there was actual cultural bias.”
But minority groups must continue to be on their guard and raise complaints when tests are unfair, said Kirkland, founder of the Buffalo Police African-American Officers Association.
