Excerpts from a story by William Kaempffer, New Haven Register
In a new wrinkle in the on-going laundry of the New Haven Fire Department promotion process, four other members of the group on the winning side of the landmark U.S. Supreme Court’s decision are now arguing they too should advance.
According to a story by William Kaempffer in New Haven Register, Lt. Edward Riordan, Lt. Thomas Michaels, Lt. John Vendetto, and Firefighter Sean Patton all passed the 2003 exams for lieutenant and captain. The four contend that they “believe they would have been promoted during the life of the eligibility lists had the city certified them in 2004” and “reserved the right to contest the city’s position that they would not have been promoted.”
Had the city certified the lists, additional exams might have been administered in the last six years and some plaintiffs could have been promoted to even higher rank, they argue.
Any claim that the four additional plaintiffs are entitled to promotion gets legally hazy.
There were 24 vacancies in ranks of lieutenant and captain between 2004 and 2006, when the promotional lists would have expired, and last week the city promoted 14 plaintiffs and 10 non-plaintiffs to those vacancies.
The city’s position has been that only those 24 candidates should be promoted.
Riordan, Michaels, Vendetto and Patton disagree, and their position is expected to revolve around what they believed would have happened, but didn’t, had the city certified the exams as it should have in 2004.
Their argument, largely overshadowed by promotion of the other 14, has been: Had the city made promotions in 2004, then additional vacancies beyond the 24 likely would have opened, either from existing lieutenants and captains who would have retired had the officer shortage not left the department awash with overtime opportunities or through other promotional exams for ranks of battalion chief and deputy chief that weren’t administered because the six-year battle. Any promotions at those ranks would have opened spots in lower ranks.
The question could be put to a jury this spring.
The New Haven 20 Finally Get Their Due
A five alarm fire marks the end of a historic and beloved building in the Massachusetts Berkshires this week. The Egremont Inn is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, having been around since before the American Revolution. The three-story wood frame structure did not have a sprinkler system. Of course, the cause has not yet been determined. One firefighter suffered minor injuries. 
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