Class-Action Status Sought in Suit Vs. Firefighter Exams

By ARI PAUL

The black firefighter group involved in the Federal lawsuit alleging that the city's 1999 and 2002 written exams for Firefighter had disparate impact on minority candidates filed a class-action motion April 25 to include all African-American applicants who did not pass these exams.

JOHN COOMBS: Questions fire test criteria.

Richard Levy, an attorney for the Vulcan Society of black firefighters, which is an intervening plaintiff in the case, said in an affidavit that 3,000 African-Americans took the two hiring exams.

'Biased Requirements'

"Each of these applicants was harmed by the discriminatory nature of these examinations, as well as other discriminatory entrance requirements that have an adverse impact on blacks and are not job-related, such as the requirement that firefighters obtain 30 college credits - in any subject, however unrelated to firefighting - prior to appointment, that they maintain a valid driver's license, and that they pay for a costly certified first responder with defibrillation course," Mr. Levy said. "These 3,000-plus individuals are all proper class members, and the proposed class is so numerous that joinder of its members would be impracticable."

The U.S. Department of Justice filed its lawsuit last May alleging that the discrepancy in passing rates between white and African-American and Latino test-takers was statistically significant and that the city was in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

Call License Unnecessary

Roger Gregg, one of the intervening plaintiffs in the case said in an affidavit that the driver's license requirement impeded his ability to join the department because he grew up using public transportation. Vulcan President John Coombs said the driver's license requirement was unnecessary.

"Do you really need a drivers' license?" Mr. Coombs asked in a phone interview. "Is everyone going to be a chauffeur in the Fire Department? The answer is no. If that's the case, then what's the real requirement for a license?"

Chief FDNY spokesman Francis X. Gribbon responded in an e-mail, "We are an emergency response agency. It's a requirement that not only makes sense, but is necessary for an agency that has literally thousands of persons who drive department apparatus and vehicles. If no one was required to have a driver's license, then it's possible that no one would have a driver's license."

Edge Based on Background?

Mr. Gregg added that the 2002 test questions favored those with a prior firefighting background.

"Many of the test questions contained 'terms of the trade' of firefighting with which I was not familiar since I had no friends or family members who were firefighters," he said.

Attorneys for the Vulcans have argued that the written exams should test for applicants' abilities to learn firefighting skills rather than prior knowledge of the profession. They have also pointed to the fact that slightly more than 7 percent of the firefighting force is black or Latino, while fire forces in cities such as Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and Los Angeles are more than 20 percent minority.

The city has until May 23 to respond.

The department announced last November that the 2007 written exam for the job produced significant increases in both the number and percentage of minorities passing. While the Vulcans have also been critical of that exam, it is not a subject of the Federal lawsuit.

'Didn't Recruit Blacks Before'

"Growing up, it never occurred to me that I could become a New York City firefighter," Mr. Gregg said. "No one in my family or my predominantly African-American neighborhood in The Bronx had ever worked as a firefighter, as far as I know. No one from the New York City Fire Department ever came to a career fair at my high school or at Kingsboro Community College while I was there, and I have never seen print advertisements anywhere in New York City for the FDNY."

He continued, "I have seen very few African-American firefighters on the streets or in any firehouse I happen to pass by, and of the hundreds of firefighters whom I have assisted during my eight years at the Municipal Credit Union, no more than a handful have been African-American."