A week after the city was found to be at fault for discriminating against blacks and Latinos who wanted to become firefighters, a Brooklyn federal judge ruled that the city must pay damages to thousands of black and Latino applicants, and give jobs and retroactive pay to 293 others.
In a decision the Times reports might be the first time a "court had found that the city had intentionally discriminated against a large class of people," a judge sided in favor of the U.S. Department of Justice and the Vulcan Society — a group of black firefighters who alleged the FDNY used entrance exams that screened out qualified minorities. Of the city's 11,500 firefighters, only 350 are black.
About 7,400 minority applicants who took the exams would be able to apply for compensation. Of that group, 293 would be given priority hiring status and retroactive seniority, the paper notes. The judge ordered that the FDNY must also establish a new hiring procedure for firefighters, though he turned down a request to hiring mandate quotas. City officials wouldn't say how much the loss will cost, though lawyers representing the plaintiffs estimated it would amount to "tens of millions of dollars, just for back compensation." The city is expected to appeal.
