Plan was designed to bring more women, minorities into fire department
By Lou Grieco
Dayton Daily News (Ohio)
Copyright 2007 Dayton Newspapers, Inc.
DAYTON, Ohio — The former assistant chief examiner for the Dayton Civil Service Board, terminated in 2002 after criticizing the city’s diversity plan, was illegally fired, her attorney said Monday.
“She was devastated and she was embarrassed,” said Jeffrey Silverstein. “She had no idea this was coming.”
Susan Fisler Silberstein, then the second highest ranking employee of the Civil Service board, was a classified employee who was entitled to a pretermination hearing and could only be fired for cause, Silverstein said.
Neil Freund, representing the city, countered that while the city erred in not having the hearing, there was cause to fire her anyway.
“This case is about distrust, obstruction and stonewalling,” Freund said.
“She would have been terminated anyway,” he said.
The civil trial is before U.S. District Magistrate Judge Sharon L. Ovington.
Silberstein is suing both the city and the Civil Service board members.
At issue is a diversity plan that was designed to bring more women and minorities into the fire department by granting extra points on the civil service exam for applicants with military service or those who participated in a firefighters’ apprentice program.
Silberstein objected to the plan, even writing an opinion column for the Dayton Daily News, stating that it was a violation of the city charter. In 2005, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled the plan was legal.
She was on paid administrative leave at the time, but was fired within days of the column’s publication, Silverstein said.
Silberstein had a good work record during her time with the board, which started in 1999, and got along well with her supervisor Sandra Huggins, Silverstein said.
But Freund countered that Huggins was another opponent of the diversity plan. Huggins was fired the day Silberstein was placed on leave.
Both actively opposed the policy set by the city commission, he said.
“They refused to adopt the rules that were necessary to adopt that policy,” Freund said