I have only followed this story a little bit and it was given more publicity once Sonia Sotomayor was plucked for the high court.
The Supreme Court has ruled that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge.
Read the story on the Washington Post here. You can also follow the story and comments on Firefighter Nation here.
Basically, New Haven threw out a promotional test because they FEARED litigation over no African-American firefighters and only two Hispanic Firefighters were eligible for promotion once testing was completed. WHAT? For fear?
Is that what we have stooped to?
In the end, it bit New Haven in the ASS. Frank Ricci, the lead plaintiff, should be commended for standing up for what is right! I will drink to that…off duty. Too many firefighters/EMT’s fail to stand up for themselves for fear of retaliation. I have seen it in my department and heard of it everywhere else. This should prove fruitful for those who are scared to do the right thing.
“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 said in his opinion for the court. He was joined by Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Samuel Alito, Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think every promotional process is fair and equitable. Most employers have their own way of twisting the process to get the guys they want.
I figure the easiest way is to come up with a fair testing process including practical, written, oral, and scenario based testing depending on the rank being tested; test and score fairly; then simply promote right down the list.
Here’s to you Frank…if we meet up in the future I will buy the first round!
Right there with you FC, until the part about the tests being biased to get who the brass wants. It’s not WHO, but WHAT. My service recently administered a test that, by all accounts (I did not partake) was hopelessly flawed from the get go. The folks who made it past the oral boards were put into a giant pool and the Chief officers chose the promotions from that pool. in other words, you could have studied your butt off, done the best of all and still not get hired because the service is REQUIRED BY LAW to promote equally based on race. That is the definition of racism, choosing one person over another based only on race.
I have yet to read the decision to see if this ruling effects the testing or the interpretation of results by the municipality, but I think this is a landmark case to end “reverse racism” which is racism. Promote based on ability, not appearance.
Anyone else need this soapbox? I’m done with it.
Right there with you FC, until the part about the tests being biased to get who the brass wants. It’s not WHO, but WHAT. My service recently administered a test that, by all accounts (I did not partake) was hopelessly flawed from the get go. The folks who made it past the oral boards were put into a giant pool and the Chief officers chose the promotions from that pool. in other words, you could have studied your butt off, done the best of all and still not get hired because the service is REQUIRED BY LAW to promote equally based on race. That is the definition of racism, choosing one person over another based only on race.
I have yet to read the decision to see if this ruling effects the testing or the interpretation of results by the municipality, but I think this is a landmark case to end “reverse racism” which is racism. Promote based on ability, not appearance.
Anyone else need this soapbox? I’m done with it.
I see your point HM although I was trying to refer to the caliber of the firefighter and not the race issue. Even with the promoting of minorities for quotas or whatever you wanna call it, there is still a lot of good ole boy promoting going on which is kindof another issue that is hard to put a finger on to ever try in court.
My department does not have a large minority base and therefore it would be difficult to show a significant sway towards promoting minorities. I am not saying it doesn’t exist here or elsewhere, it would just be harder to prove where I work. And yes, I work in a “City” where we have a large population of all types of minorities. Check out my most recent post for more.
I see your point HM although I was trying to refer to the caliber of the firefighter and not the race issue. Even with the promoting of minorities for quotas or whatever you wanna call it, there is still a lot of good ole boy promoting going on which is kindof another issue that is hard to put a finger on to ever try in court.
My department does not have a large minority base and therefore it would be difficult to show a significant sway towards promoting minorities. I am not saying it doesn’t exist here or elsewhere, it would just be harder to prove where I work. And yes, I work in a “City” where we have a large population of all types of minorities. Check out my most recent post for more.