By Steve Patterson
The Florida Times-Union
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A federal judge dismissed a hiring-discrimination lawsuit against Jacksonville after the City Council approved a settlement negotiated with a black firefighter group and the NAACP.
City attorneys, the Jacksonville Brotherhood of Firefighters and the NAACP jointly asked last week to end the case, saying there was nothing left to resolve.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Corrigan agreed Monday, approving the attorneys’ request that he keep the option to reopen the case only if the city doesn’t pay the $250,000 it has pledged to the other side.
The city agreed in the settlement to hire some prospective firefighters over the next five years who don’t yet have a state certification, and allow them to complete the needed training while they draw paychecks.
New hires can’t work as firefighters until they’re state-certified.
Instead, they’ll be assigned about 40 hours a week to special firefighter and EMT training classes aimed at getting them certified, then into advanced recruit training, said Fire Chief Kurtis Wilson.
The settlement said uncertified hires would have to become certified within 18 months and could be fired if they fail any part of the certification process.
The agreement is meant to help meet a city goal to “build a fire and rescue workforce reflective of our community.”
That goal was first announced in 1999, but city records show only about 20 percent of firefighters are black in a city that’s about 30 percent African-American.
The settlement gives the fire chief latitude to select new hires on an open-ended list of qualifications, “including economic hurdles faced by the applicants.”
The suit against the city filed in 2013 noted higher poverty levels among black residents, making the choice to enroll in firefighter training more daunting. Training is available at Florida State College at Jacksonville, but could cost $2,900 and take seven months to compete, the suit argued, adding federal student loan rules didn’t allow borrowing for the courses.
The settlement terms were “fairly nontraditional” and couldn’t easily be achieved by going to trial, said Kirsten Doolittle, an attorney representing the Brotherhood and NAACP. She said the groups cared about creating a more level playing field between people seeking firefighter work, and that waiving the advance certification requirement could make a real difference.
The agreement covers hiring through 2021, during which time about a third of new hires aren’t expected to be state-certified. About 15 percent of the department’s current firefighters are expected to retire in that period.
Copyright 2016 The Florida Times-Union