Jacksonville faces Justice Department lawsuit over firefighter discrimination
Jacksonville could be sued by the U.S. Justice Department as early as Friday over a government finding that firefighter promotion tests discriminated against African Americans from 2004 to last year.
The agency's Civil Rights Division wrote last month it concluded the city "had engaged in a pattern or practice of employment discrimination," and said the division had authorized attorneys to go to court.
"The United States will file its complaint no later than April 20," read the letter by Delora Kennebrew, chief of the employment litigation section.
Federal lawyers concluded that promotions tests for four ranks - engineer, lieutenant, captain and district chief in the department's fire suppression division - had unfairly hindered black firefighters' advancement.
To make up for that, the Justice Department wants the city to change its promotion practices and provide "make-whole relief," which would include job offers, back pay with interest and changes in seniority for firefighters harmed by tests that were discriminatory, according to the letter.
The International Association of Firefighters will also be named in the suit, Kennebrew wrote, because it negotiates with the city over terms of promotion tests. Union President Randy Wyse did not return a message left Thursday afternoon seeking coment.
Kennebrew wrote the city that questions in written tests were "not sufficiently job-related for the positions in question" and resulted in disparate effects upon African Americans being tested.
City General Counsel Cindy Laquidara would not acknowledge receipt of the letter, and said a letter like that legally should not be in circulation.
But she said the city is undergoing a set of reviews and analyses that would be normal procedure in cases where a federal discrimination finding had been made.
She said she didn't expect the matter to be resolved by the April 20 deadline.
"It takes more than 30 days on a slip and fall case, never mind a case of this specificity," Laquidara said.
She said the city would normally react to a discrimination finding by seeking an expert statistical review of test results, then analyzing how the findings would fit within current law. City lawyers would talk with Justice officials next, Laquidara said, and if needed, talk to local elected officials about their openness to policy changes and financial settlements.
The Justice Department formally opened its investigation in December 2009, saying at the time it was also checking for discrimination against Hispanic and female firefighters. The letter last month offered no findings about those two groups.
