The justices will decide whether blacks who were not hired in Chicago because of their test scores are due damages for years of lost wages.
Based on an article in the LA Times by David Savage
Although they share the building with the Chicago Bulls, nearly all of my visits to Chicago’s United Center have been to watch our beloved Blackhawks in action. Now the UC is not just a sports stadium. Holding nearly 23,000, the UC has been host to huge concerts and other events. The circus comes to town for a couple of weeks every winter (insert Chicago joke here).
Last century (1995), the United Center drew one of its hugest crowds as 26,000 fire department applicants jammed into the sports arena to take an entry-level, paper-and-pencil test for jobs in the Fire Department.
Only those who scored 89 or above were considered “well qualified” for the jobs, the city said in January 1996. Assuming they passed a physical and medical test, these top scorers stood a good chance of being hired over the next eight years.
According to an article written by David Savage of the LA Times, about 76% of those in the “well qualified” group were white — 11.5% were black even though there were only slightly more whites than blacks taking the test. Mayor Richard M. Daley called the results “disappointing.” Those who scored between 65 and 88 were classified as “qualified” but were told they were unlikely to be hired.
Beginning today, the United States Supreme Court will hear a case brought by more than 6,000 African Americans alleging racial discrimination. The group earned “qualified” scores, but who lost out to mostly white applicants who had higher, “well qualified” scores. In their 1997 suit against the city, they relied on a part of the Civil Rights Act that says job standards, including tests, are illegal if they unfairly screen out applicants because of their race or gender.
The justices ruled for white firefighters in New Haven last year, who said they were victims of illegal racial discrimination when the city threw out the results of a promotion test. The whites had earned high scores and would have gotten nearly all the promotions. City officials dropped the test results because they feared being sued by blacks who were denied promotions.
Shortly after this ruling, the high court voted to hear the case of the black applicants from Chicago.
In the Chicago case, the justices will decide whether blacks who were not hired in Chicago because of their test scores are due damages for years of lost wages. The potentially $100-million civil rights case comes before a high court that has already shown its skepticism toward such claims.
“This case is the flip side of Ricci,” said Benna Solomon, deputy corporation counsel for Chicago, referring to the New Haven case. “It illustrates the tension that public employers face.”
The outcome of the Chicago case is likely to have a national impact, because most state and city agencies are required by law to use competitive tests for hiring.
Stay tuned….
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- VIDEO AND FIREGROUND AUDIO: (LODD) CFD’s Cory Ankum and Edward Stringer die, 19 firefighters seriously injured in Chicago Building Collapse- 100 years to the day of the Chicago Stockyards Fire that killed 21 firefighters – December 22, 2010
- NIOSH summary report on CFD firefighter/paramedic Christopher Wheatley’s LODD prompts an interesting question – June 29, 2011
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