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If I recall correctly, the fire department in question was afraid that if it promoted strictly based on the test, then at least one black firefighter who hadn’t
by sethg 16y ago
If I recall correctly, the fire department in question was afraid that if it promoted strictly based on the test, then at least one black firefighter who hadn’t been promoted would sue, and the department didn’t want to defend the test in court. So they tried to dodge the problem by bailing on the test, and then got sued from the other direction.
- yummyfajitas 16y agoThat fear was quite legitimate. After Ricci was decided, a black firefighter sued the city over the test [1]. His theory was that weighting promotions via 60% objective written test/40% subjective oral test was racist since it had a disparate impact on blacks. He lost. http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/04/22/news/aa3_nebriscoetossed042210.txt http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2010/04/22/news/aa3_nebri... [1] I believe he lacked standing before the supreme court decision, since he suffered no harm.
- sethg 16y agoWell, yeah, it’s a legitimate fear, but they should have handled that fear by being ready to defend their testing system in court before the tests were administered, and having the courage of their convictions.
- deleted 16y ago[deleted]
- andrewflnr 16y agoUnfortunately, being firm in your convictions or even being right is not always enough to win in court.
- dasil003 16y agoTrue, but it's impossible to operate with any form of competence or integrity if the sole basis of your decision making is fear of litigation.