The Omaha Association of Black Firefighters is considering legal action over the change.
Karen Sloan
Omaha World-Herald
Copyright 2007 The Omaha World-Herald Company
OMAHA, Neb. — Racial and gender preferences are being eliminated in the Omaha Fire Department’s promotion policy.
The City Council signed off Tuesday on a lawsuit settlement that officially removes affirmative action from fire department promotions. The settlement also pays the legal fees of two white firefighters who sued in 2003, claiming they were passed over for promotions because of their race.
“I think this is good news for the department,” said Frank Corcoran, the vice president of the Omaha Fire Union. “From this day forward, I think all promotions will go down the list, and that means harmony in the fire stations.”
But representatives from the Omaha Association of Black Firefighters had a different take on the changes.
“They’ve eliminated the only process that will make a difference (in increasing the number of minorities in leadership roles),” said Capt. Marvin Ervin.
In spite of the policy, Ervin said, there still are not enough minorities in top jobs. Minorities fill about 16 percent of the department’s 213 leadership positions. Ervin told the council that the black firefighters are looking at possible legal action down the road.
In 2002, Omaha adopted an affirmative action promotion plan where the fire chief would consider the three highest-ranking candidates based on tests and interviews for any open position. But if it was determined that women and minorities were underutilized in the job category, the chief could also consider female and minority candidates.
As part of the settlement, the chief will be able to consider only the top four candidates for each open position, regardless of race or gender.
The settlement will not affect the police department or hiring in the fire department.
But changes could be on the way for the testing and evaluation process that determines promotion candidate rankings in the fire department.
Black firefighters have complained the testing process puts them at a disadvantage. The black firefighters and fire union officials met with the city’s human relations committee Tuesday to discuss potential changes to the process.
“Everybody agrees that something needs to be changed, but they said that five years ago, and nothing happened,” Ervin said.
Corcoran said the union is open to changes, such as providing more feedback to firefighters to help them understand why they may have done poorly on the promotion tests and assessments.