By Jamie Thompson
FireRescue1 Editor
DALLAS — Departments should scrutinize the use of multiple-choice testing in promotional exams in the aftermath of the Supreme Court ruling on the “New Haven 20,” a session at FRI was told Thursday.
The session focused on the fallout of the case in June that ruled 19 white firefighters and one Hispanic firefighter in the Connecticut city were unfairly denied promotions because of their race.
New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results, the court said in a 5-4 decision. The city said that it had acted to avoid a lawsuit from minorities.
Legal experts claimed the ruling could alter employment practices nationwide and make it harder to prove discrimination when there is no evidence it was intentional.
During the session at FRI in Dallas, John Rukavina, director (ret.) of the Wake County, N.C., Department of Public Safety, said he agreed with a perspective the ruling will “probably make a big difference in a small number of cases.”
He told the audience that New Haven used a multiple-choice test in the promotional exams for lieutenants and captains in its fire department. It hired an outside firm to design the test, which was given to 77 candidates for lieutenant and 41 candidates for captain.
A total of 56 firefighters passed the exams, including 41 whites, 22 blacks and 18 Hispanics. But of those, only 17 whites and two Hispanics could expect promotion.
“If you’re going to use multiple-choice testing, then use it as just one element of a battery to identify what peoples’ skills are,” Rukavina said.
“My advice though is to not use multiple-choice testing at all. Use something they are going to use every day.”
Rhoda Mae Kerr, Chief of the Austin Fire Department, who co-hosted Thursday’s session, said multiple-choice testing in both promotional and even recruit exams offers little insight into a person’s ability to do the job.
“I really don’t think it’s a true predictor of what we do,” she said. “Does your supervisor come into the station in the morning and have to take a written test?
“The most important thing a supervisor does is the way they deal with people, the people they supervise, the people they serve.”
Rukavina said it is important the fire service comes up with a selection process that is perceived as fair and does a better job delivering people that are ready to do the work.
“We can learn a lot from the military,” he said. “The promotional process there is a continual process throughout the career that begins when they start work.”