By Fran Spielman
The Chicago Sun-Times
Copyright 2007 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.
All Rights Reserved
CHICAGO — Chicago Fire Commissioner Ray Orozco wants to hire up to 500 new firefighters from the list generated by the city’s first firefighters entrance exam in more than a decade.
But a legal battle that has raged since the last test, in 1995, could stop Orozco in his tracks.
His department has asked the city’s Human Resources Department for the new list of qualified applicants, with the aim of hiring hundreds of new — and younger — faces.
But that hiring could be derailed by an April 20 ruling by U.S. District Judge Joan Gotschall, who entered an injunction requiring the city to hire 132 African-American firefighters. They sued over the 1995 exam, claiming discrimination.
The ’95 exam was drafted by an African American with an eye toward diversifying the Fire Department.
When results for minorities were disappointing, the city established a cut-off score of 89 and hired randomly from the top 1,800 “well-qualified” candidates.
Two years ago, Gotschall ruled that the city’s handling of the exam had the effect of perpetuating the predominantly white status quo, since 78 percent of those “well-qualified” candidates were white. She has now wrapped up the damage phase of that case.
If the Daley administration agrees to hiring the 132 black candidates, Chicago taxpayers will be on the hook for roughly $27 million in damages. If the “hiring remedy” is ignored, the tab could approach $100 million, said Joshua Karsh, an attorney representing plaintiffs.
City Law Department spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle called those estimates high and said the city plans to appeal Gotschall’s ruling.
The Fire Department “can go ahead and get the names” off the new list from the 2006 test, Hoyle said. “But, in terms of doing further processing and actually hiring these people, they would have to wait until the judge rules.”
Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford said it’s important to hire from the newest list, because the candidates from the 1995 list are “too old.”
“The average age exceeded 38,” he said. “We want younger people.”