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Federal Judge: FDNY Hiring Exams Were Discriminatory
By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 22, 2009
Modified Jul 22, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jul 22, 2009
Modified Jul 22, 2009
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A federal judge ruled that the FDNY's written exams "unfairly excluded hundreds of qualified people of color." Judge Nicholas Garaufis wrote, "These unlawful practices barred over a thousand additional black and Hispanic applicants from consideration for appointment as FDNY firefighters, and unfairly delayed the appointment of hundreds of black and Hispanic firefighters." Back in 2007, the Justice Department joined the Vulcan Society to sue the fire department because many more black and Hispanic candidates failed the exam; at the time, only 7.5% of the FDNY was black and/or Hispanic (while in LA and Philadelphia, fire departments were around 40% black and/or Hispanic). The AP reports, "Garaufis said he must consider remedies to end the discrimination which occurred in written exams given to thousands of firefighter candidates from 1999 to 2007." The city has not decided whether it will appeal the decision.
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discrimination
exam
fdny
fire department
minority
written exam
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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