St. Louis firefighters who should be in line for a promotion are left hanging
By Jake Wagman
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Firefighters Lonnie Hughes and Wayne Killingsworth know that being No. 1 doesn’t always pay.
Hughes, who has been with the St. Louis Fire Department since 1978, scored the highest on the department’s test for battalion chief. Killingsworth, a 15-year veteran, scored the highest on the department’s promotional exam for captain.
But since 2004, neither Hughes nor Killingsworth has been promoted.
Fire Chief Sherman George, who questions the effectiveness of the test, has not promoted the pair and about 25 other candidates, despite a prolonged court fight and political battle that climaxed late last month with a stern letter from Mayor Francis Slay.
The dispute has exposed a deep racial rift in one of the state’s largest and most active fire departments.
Lost in the war of wills between the department and City Hall are firefighters — white, black and Hispanic — who spent hours studying for the tests, only to do well and not reap the financial rewards.
“I neglected my kids in the hopes of being promoted, so I could provide a better life for my family,” said Killingsworth, 38. “I do these things the city asks me to do. I perform well. And I can’t get promoted.”
After three years, firefighters are looking at about $40,000 they would each have made had they been promoted right away.
Instead, many firefighters are filling the jobs that they tested for, serving on an “acting” basis without a pay increase.
Three years ago, a group of African-American firefighters filed a federal suit alleging that the promotional exams for captain and battalion chief were unfair. They questioned why they were not allowed to record the oral portion of the exam, and accused some union firefighters of cheating.
Recent history suggests why they were suspicious.
In 2002, four firefighters, three white, one African-American, were fired for cheating or trying to cheat on a promotional exam.
Even so, a judge ruled that the 2004 tests did not intentionally discriminate, and that the black firefighters could not prove there was an “adverse impact.”
In the St. Louis Fire Department, battalion chief is a key post, a rung above captain and a step away from deputy chief.
On the battalion chief test, the firefighters with the top six scores are first in line for promotion. In 2004, the top scorers were two African-Americans, one Hispanic, one white woman and two white men.
“This is as good or better than what I’ve seen in other municipalities,” testified Rick Jacobs, whose firm E.B. Jacobs, developed the test. “I would say this is an excellent representation of diversity at the top of a promotion list.”
Jacobs, based in State College, Pa., has been testing public and private employees across the country for more than 25 years, offering promotional exams in fields ranging from law enforcement to transportation.
The captain’s test was less diverse. Of the top 25, four were African-American, and the rest were white.
Hughes, an African-American who scored highest on the battalion chief test, is now acting battalion chief at Engine House No. 28, a hectic station where the motto is “Sleep when you’re dead.”
The other African-American finalist, Capt. Steve Simpson, is a spokesman for George. Hughes and Simpson declined to comment.
Many black firefighters such as Hughes belong to FIRE, the Firefighters Institute for Racial Equality, a fraternal organization formed in the late 1960s after black firefighters were excluded from a union picnic.
FIRE was also a part of the 2004 federal suit against the tests, where the plaintiffs stated that they believed that “the city wants to make sure that no African-American is eligible to be chief of the department again.”
One of the plaintiffs, firefighter Leonard Davis, said that he felt no matter how close he came to advancement, the system was designed to hold black firefighters back.
“You see it, but you won’t touch it,” Davis said in a deposition.
Chris Molitor, president of the International Association of Firefighters Local 73, said the fight over promotions is not about race or color.
“One comment one of my guys made is: ‘It’s not black. It’s not white — it’s green,’” Molitor said.
For firefighters, each rise in rank comes with an average salary bump of $13,000 a year, plus a more generous pension.
But, right now, there are only 22 openings for captain and five for battalion chief. An additional battalion chief position is expected to open. Firefighters who don’t score high enough to make those positions can find themselves stuck at a lower pay grade.
Pay is also based on years of service, making most experienced city firefighters reluctant to move to another fire department.
That’s why the debate surrounding the promotional tests is so intense, Molitor said.
“It’s basically affecting the amount of money you make for the rest of your life,” Molitor said.
Molitor says the union has pushed for an additional position — such as an engineer post — that would ease the struggle for promotions while providing a bridge from an entry-level private to the higher ranks.
For now, though, firefighters continue to be frustrated.
Capt. Gail Simmons, who scored second-highest on the test for battalion chief, would be the first woman in the history of the department to hold such a position. Simmons, a single mother, had to pull her son out of private school while waiting for the raise that will come with a promotion.
“My life has been on hold for three years,” she said.
Duane Greer, a Hispanic firefighter in line for a promotion to battalion chief, says he can no longer dwell on the situation because it “makes me sick to my stomach.”
“This is life-changing money to us,” Greer said, who makes about $66,000 a year.
Greer, who was hired 20 years ago this month, worries that the tension between those up for promotion and those who believe the process was unfair may spill out of the firehouse to the fire scene — making an already tough job more treacherous.
“Right now, there can be all kinds of animosity inside of the firehouse, but, when the bell hits, we all feel like we can do the job,” Greer said. “More and more, guys are doing it, but they are looking over their shoulder. And that just creates a dangerous situation.”
Meanwhile, firefighters on the promotion list continue to watch George for any signs that he might act. In a letter to George on July 31, Slay warned the chief that unless the issue of promotions is addressed, “it could severely damage your ability to lead the department.” In a letter back to Slay, George expressed concerns over whether the exam adequately tested the necessary skills needed for a higher rank.
Still, George wrote that he would request the promotion lists and “review them for appropriate candidates” — though he stopped short of saying he would make the promotions.
“I said my plan is to look at the list,” George said last week. “That’s what I’m going to do.”
Firefighters up for promotion received letters last week to schedule an interview with the chief.
Yet those such as Killingsworth, who remain in job limbo, are not optimistic.
In the weeks leading up to the 2004 captain’s test, Killingsworth said he studied eight hours a day. Now, he depends more on his off-day job — a lawn care business — to keep his four children, ages 7 to 13, in parochial school.
“I basically had to let it go,” he said. “Divine intervention will have to take place if I’m going to get promoted.”
Lonnie Hughes scored the highest on the department’s test for battalion chief.
Wayne Killingsworth scored highest for captain. Neither has been promoted.
Simpson Spokesman for Chief George Greer Worries tension will spill to scene Simmons Pulled son out of private school Molitor Issue is money, he says.
Copyright 2007 St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Inc.
All Rights Reserved