Lowered Standards in New Haven
New Haven firefighter Frank Ricci did what he was supposed to do. He bought the recommended books and studied for a promotion exam. Despite his dyslexia, Ricci scored high enough to qualify for a promotion, but the department threw out all test results. No blacks and only two Hispanics scored high enough to be promoted.
Over a dozen white firefighters and one Hispanic filed suit against the city in 2004, claiming it violated their constitutional rights and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by discriminating against them based on race. Had the fire department certified the test results, however, the lower scorers likely would have sued the city under Title VII’s “disparate impact” provision. The fire department was damned if it did and damned if it didn’t.
Update: Naturally, the NAACP sides with the city in the Ricci lawsuit. Twelve black New Haven firefighters asked for the NAACP’s support.
“Historically, as African-Americans, we don’t do as well on strictly written exams,” said Donald Day, retired firefighter and former regional director of the International Association of Black Professional Firefighters. “Some of the worst officers you’ve ever had were ‘book smart’ officers.”
That may be true, but standardized written exams (a reasonable screening process) are required for a number of professions, including lawyers, doctors, and pilots. Can you imagine if they started dropping standards just to make sure there is an arbitrary percentage of blacks in these professions? There’d be chaos!
I’m waiting, patiently, for some person or group to seriously suggest lowering the standard of entry for pilots or surgeons!
