by ARI PAUL
City officials last week urged the Federal Judge overseeing the Fire Department diversity litigation to permit a new class of Probationary Firefighters to be appointed as scheduled next week, saying that the longer hiring is delayed, the more the department would suffer financially.
On the first of several days of hearings before U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Brooklyn Aug. 19, Stephen Rush, an Assistant Commissioner overseeing the FDNY budget, asserted that the court's decision effectively barring hiring for the time being put the city in a precarious position. It is already 300 members under headcount, he said, and the cost of the delay could be nearly $200 million in overtime spending over two years.
He also testified that it would be more expensive for the department to fill slots with overtime than by hiring new Probationary Firefighters.
'Hiring More Makes Sense'
"Here, extra Firefighters even beyond the levels we're suggesting makes sense," Mr. Rush said. "Attrition keeps going; you have to field more overtime."
Earlier this month Judge Garaufis ruled that in addition to two previous written Firefighter exams he had found to be biased, the 2007 test- which produced the current eligibles list-had a wrongful disparate impact on minority candidates. He therefore blocked the FDNY's plan to start a new Fire Academy class with 300 new recruits next month.
The case is being pursued by the U.S. Department of Justice, along with the FDNY Vulcan Society of black firefighters. Judge Garaufis said that he wanted to help the city get on with hiring as soon as possible while also addressing the need to diversify; only 11 percent of the city's Firefighters and fire officers are black or Latino, a low percentage compared with other uniformed departments in the city and fire departments in other major cities.
"This is not an easy balancing act," the Judge said.
'Like Eggs in the Omelet'
The courtroom was packed with those on the eligibles list whose future in the department hinges on Mr. Garaufis's decision. David Cargin, an African-American who took the exam, said he understood the Vulcans' decision to pursue the case, but added that many candidates who like him had studied hard for the exam were frustrated by the forced hiring delay.
"They got a good reason to want what they want, but all of us candidates feel like cracked eggs in the omelet," he said.
Mayor Bloomberg had heralded the results of the 2007 test, saying that after intensified minority recruitment efforts the exam had yielded the most diverse set of candidates in the department's history, including 33 percent of minority applicants scoring high enough to expect to be hired. But Judge Garaufis ruled that disparate impact occurred because most of the minority eligibles were clumped at the bottom of the list.
"Change isn't going to happen instantly," Mr. Cargin said. "It's going to take time."
Attorneys for the Vulcans said that the group wanted to come to an equitable conclusion in the case.
"The Vulcans are certainly not opposed to them hiring," Vulcan attorney Richard Levy said of the FDNY. "We'd just like for them to do it in a way that doesn't discriminate."
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