The Network Journal
By: COLLEEN LONG
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Black American
Paul Washington is a New York City firefighter, like his dad and his uncle before him. His brother is also on the job. Some of his cousins are firefighters, too.
Family legacies aren't unusual in the Fire Department of New York, but the Washingtons are — because they are black. And the nation's largest fire department remains an overwhelmingly white force.
But a federal lawsuit, a court order and a revamped application system are offering a glimmer of a future in which the FDNY could become as diverse as the population it serves — a goal other big-city departments have already achieved.
Full Story: http://www.tnj.com/news/black-american/after-diversity-lawsuit-fdny-hiring-sits-limbo
Showing posts with label New York City Fire Department. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New York City Fire Department. Show all posts
Friday, January 14, 2011
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Judge Finds Racial Bias in Fire Dept. Recruiting
The New York Times
By DIANE CARDWELL
Published: July 22, 2009
New York City used tests that discriminated against black and Hispanic applicants to the Fire Department and had little relation to firefighting, a federal judge in Brooklyn ruled on Wednesday, dealing a blow to the administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
“These examinations unfairly excluded hundreds of qualified people of color from the opportunity to serve as New York City firefighters,” wrote Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis of Federal District Court in Brooklyn, referring to two tests administered in 1999 and 2002.
The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by the Justice Department in 2007 after a federal complaint by the Vulcan Society, an association of black firefighters, led to an investigation into the Fire Department’s hiring practices.
The judge said he would determine later what remedies to require of the city. They could include payment of lost wages, retroactive seniority for some minority employees and affirmative action hiring. Noting that the court had ruled against the city in past decades in lawsuits brought over its hiring practices, Judge Garaufis wrote that even as the city’s black and Hispanic population had increased, “the overwhelmingly monochromatic composition of the F.D.N.Y. has stubbornly persisted.”
Like firefighting forces in several other big cities, New York’s has remained disproportionately white, despite pressures and efforts to diversify. According to the city’s Law Department, at the end of May, roughly 3 percent of the 11,529 firefighters were black, and about 6 percent were Hispanic. Federal census estimates put each group at roughly 27 percent of the city’s population.
“If there was any doubt that the city did have problems with its hiring process, it’s now been decided that in fact they do,” said Darius Charney of the Center for Constitutional Rights, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs. “Now it’s hard for them to argue that they in fact are not discriminating.”
Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/nyregion/23firefighters.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
By DIANE CARDWELL
Published: July 22, 2009
New York City used tests that discriminated against black and Hispanic applicants to the Fire Department and had little relation to firefighting, a federal judge in Brooklyn ruled on Wednesday, dealing a blow to the administration of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg.
“These examinations unfairly excluded hundreds of qualified people of color from the opportunity to serve as New York City firefighters,” wrote Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis of Federal District Court in Brooklyn, referring to two tests administered in 1999 and 2002.
The ruling came in a lawsuit brought by the Justice Department in 2007 after a federal complaint by the Vulcan Society, an association of black firefighters, led to an investigation into the Fire Department’s hiring practices.
The judge said he would determine later what remedies to require of the city. They could include payment of lost wages, retroactive seniority for some minority employees and affirmative action hiring. Noting that the court had ruled against the city in past decades in lawsuits brought over its hiring practices, Judge Garaufis wrote that even as the city’s black and Hispanic population had increased, “the overwhelmingly monochromatic composition of the F.D.N.Y. has stubbornly persisted.”
Like firefighting forces in several other big cities, New York’s has remained disproportionately white, despite pressures and efforts to diversify. According to the city’s Law Department, at the end of May, roughly 3 percent of the 11,529 firefighters were black, and about 6 percent were Hispanic. Federal census estimates put each group at roughly 27 percent of the city’s population.
“If there was any doubt that the city did have problems with its hiring process, it’s now been decided that in fact they do,” said Darius Charney of the Center for Constitutional Rights, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs. “Now it’s hard for them to argue that they in fact are not discriminating.”
Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/nyregion/23firefighters.html?_r=1&th&emc=th
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Judge rules FDNY exams discriminated against minorities
CNN.COM
July 22, 2009
Story Highlights :
Judge found written test had "discriminatory effects," little to do with job of a firefighter
Judge ruled that tests unfairly "excluded hundreds of qualified people of color"
Lawsuit challenged that the exams discriminated against minorities
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the New York City Fire Department used recruitment exams that discriminated against African-American and Hispanic applicants.
U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis found that the written tests had "discriminatory effects and little relationship to the job of a firefighter." Garaufis also concluded that the "examinations unfairly excluded hundreds of qualified people of color from the opportunity to serve as New York City firefighters," thus, he said, constituting employment discrimination.
The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice against the city of New York, with the suit challenging whether the city's written fire-department exams from 1999 to 2007 disadvantaged would-be African-American and Hispanic firefighters.
Full News Alert: http://cnn.site.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Judge+rules+FDNY+exams+discriminated+against+minorities+-+CNN.com&expire=-1&urlID=407212602&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2009%2FCRIME%2F07%2F22%2Ffirefighter.discrimination%2Findex.html&partnerID=211911
July 22, 2009
Story Highlights :
Judge found written test had "discriminatory effects," little to do with job of a firefighter
Judge ruled that tests unfairly "excluded hundreds of qualified people of color"
Lawsuit challenged that the exams discriminated against minorities
NEW YORK (CNN) -- A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the New York City Fire Department used recruitment exams that discriminated against African-American and Hispanic applicants.
U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis found that the written tests had "discriminatory effects and little relationship to the job of a firefighter." Garaufis also concluded that the "examinations unfairly excluded hundreds of qualified people of color from the opportunity to serve as New York City firefighters," thus, he said, constituting employment discrimination.
The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice against the city of New York, with the suit challenging whether the city's written fire-department exams from 1999 to 2007 disadvantaged would-be African-American and Hispanic firefighters.
Full News Alert: http://cnn.site.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Judge+rules+FDNY+exams+discriminated+against+minorities+-+CNN.com&expire=-1&urlID=407212602&fb=Y&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cnn.com%2F2009%2FCRIME%2F07%2F22%2Ffirefighter.discrimination%2Findex.html&partnerID=211911
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