Case says blacks denied jobs in '95
By Gary Washburn
Chicago Tribune
Copyright 2007 Chicago Tribune Company
CHICAGO — A lawyer for African-American firefighter candidates who passed a 1995 exam but were never offered jobs called Tuesday for City Hall to settle a long-running court case that he said threatens to cost taxpayers $34 million.
Even if the city refuses to withdraw its appeal, it could still agree to hire some of the black candidates who have been waiting to be called since the test was administered, said attorney Matt Piers.
"Let's agree to do that — no harm, no foul," Piers said.
But the city has given no indication it would drop its appeal.
The 1998 class-action suit on behalf of more than 6,000 African-Americans who took the test centered on who was moved to the front of the hiring line. The city's Personnel Department designated those who scored at least 89 points out of 100 as "well-qualified," and they were called first. But three-quarters of the prospective firefighters in that category were white.
U.S. District Judge Joan Gottschall ruled in favor of the African-American plaintiffs in 2005, concluding that the cut-off point was "meaningless" and that the test "could not distinguish between those who were qualified for the position ... and those who were not."
On April 20, Gottschall finally ruled on damages, ordering the city to hire 132 of the African-American candidates, a figure based on a computation of the number who would have been called if the scoring system had been fair. The judge also called for pension fund contributions for the 132 and damages to reflect back pay, minus "presumed" wages earned in other jobs. Piers said the pension payments and damages combined would total $34 million as of the end of April.
The damages — an estimated $28 million of the total — would be distributed to the black prospective firefighters who did not get jobs.
How many of the candidates who passed in 1995 and would want to leave other careers now to join the Fire Department is open to question. But Clyde Murphy, another member of the plaintiffs' legal team, who said he still hears from applicants asking about the status of the case, believes interest remains.
"The ability to pass [physical agility] tests after all these years obviously is a concern" because the prospective firefighters have aged, he said. But because the pool of prospective recruits is so large, Murphy believes there are 132 who could pass, even among those in their late 30s or 40s.
Jennifer Hoyle, a spokeswoman for the city's Law Department, said lawyers will ask Gottschall this week to delay imposition of damages until an appeals court rules on the 2005 decision. The city says the original suit was invalid because it was filed too late.
City and plaintiff lawyers continue to discuss a possible settlement, but there is no reason to delay hiring black candidates from 1995, Piers asserted.
The city administered a new firefighter test last year, this time using a random selection process to choose candidates from those who passed. The Fire Department recently asked the Human Resources Department to pull 500 names from the new list in anticipation of staffing needs. But Hoyle said no one will be called until Gottschall decides whether to delay her recent order.
