DISCRIMINATION AND AFFIRMATIVE ACTION

Discrimination and Affirmative Action

Discrimination and Affirmative Action

Introduction

  Many government organizations follow a testing procedure which allows them to promote their promising performers and grant them new positions. Similarly, the fire department in New Haven, Connecticut, known for its top performing brigade throughout the Nation, conducts examination, which would help them to determine which rank to be allotted.

Moreover, in 2003 less than 120 firefighters from that municipality took examination to qualify for the promotion of either lieutenant or captain. Since such tests were not frequently conducted so everyone worked hard of them as these tests would evaluate the potentials which firefighters would be considered for a rank with in the upcoming years. Therefore, many firefighters studied day in and day out, at their own expense which meant that they had to purchase the expensive study material themselves and the department or the test conducting centre did not provide them with anything. The basic test consisted of written and oral questions in which the abilities and basic purpose of the job was tested. (Carole, 2009)

However, the examination results revealed that the white candidates had outperformed minority candidates and this escalated into a heated argument between the public and local politicians. Moreover, some of the firefighters argued that the evaluation test should be discarded because the results showed it to be discriminatory and biased. They threatened a discrimination lawsuit if the City made promotions based on the tests. Other firefighters said the exams were neutral and fair. And they, in turn, threatened a discrimination lawsuit if the City, relying on the statistical racial disparity, ignored the test results and denied promotions to the candidates who had performed well. In the end the City took the side of the latter group and gave them the promotions. (Carole, 2009)

But many of these officers especially white and Hispanic who had performed well and were likely to be promoted, rejected the test and claimed the test to be a misrepresentation of their merit. They pronounced the testing system to have flaws as it was inadequate and did not cater to the diverse workforce. They sued the City for having such a flawed system which alleged that, by discarding the test results, the City and the named officials discriminated against the plaintiffs based on their race, in violation of both Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. However, the white fire fighters who had passed the test and were up for promotion said that the test was fair and it was subjective as well which meant that there were no flaws regarding the issue. Previously a similar case had happened in 1971 and the plaintiff had won as they were hardcore evidence regarding the issue. (Abigail, 2000)

In they City's defend they consulted over a 1000 candidates and finally hired Industrial/Organizational Solutions Inc (IOS) which helped them set the examining criteria for the fire department. According to the City they made no compromises in ...