By Fran Spielman
The Chicago Sun-Times
CHICAGO — Chicago taxpayers could be back on the hook for $100 million in damages tied to the city’s discriminatory handling of a 1995 firefighters entrance exam.
The U.S. Supreme Court made that possible Wednesday when it agreed to hear a lawsuit, filed by bypassed black candidates, that was tossed out on a technicality — that it was filed too late.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Matthew Piers said the decision to take the case means the Supreme Court “agrees with us” that there is a “serious split” between federal appeals courts about when the clock starts running on civil rights cases.
“Every time the city went back and pulled names off that [1995 test] list, they were using a discriminatory employment policy, and under Title 7, every use of a discriminatory policy is a new act of discrimination,” Piers said.
“I don’t think the city’s convoluted interpretation . . . will stand scrutiny. They’re saying when the city announced how it was going to use the test results, that announcement was the only use of the policy.”
Law Department spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle conceded that the case landed in the Supreme Court because “other appeals courts have decided this issue, and the results of those rulings have been inconsistent.”
But, she said, “We don’t agree that the Supreme Court taking the case indicates they’re going to rule against the city. Nor do we agree with [plaintiffs’] analysis of the potential damages.”
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 cutoff score of 89 and hired randomly from the top 1,800 “well-qualified” candidates.
In 2005, a federal judge ruled that the city’s handling of the exam perpetuated the predominantly white status quo, since 78 percent of those “well-qualified” candidates were white.
The city was ordered to pay damages that amounted to $28 million to 140 bypassed black candidates if they were moved to the head of the class and as much as $100 million if they were not. A federal appeals court tossed out the case in 2008.
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