Apparently courts have just informed the city that they must pay out $30 million to aspiring black firefighters who scored above 65 on the qualification test, but below the cutoff for hiring at 89. (H/T "The Thinking Housewife")
Now there are all kinds of interesting things here. First of all, the Supreme Court evidently ruled 9-0 that, despite the fact the tests were administered in 1995, the aspiring firefighters did not wait too long to file. In other words, there is effectively no statute of limitations in employment discrimination lawsuits. If you thought "that ought to put a chill in HR departments nationwide," go to the head of the class. If you also thought that--just as the Americans with Disabilities Act actually led to lower hiring of disabled people--this might backfire spectacularly against racial and ethnic minorities, go to the head of the class.
(somehow companies responded to the ADA by "miraculously" finding no
Next, we have the interesting case where a 65% score ranks as "qualified." Yes, it'll get you your D on the test in high school, but....OK, let's face facts, when push comes to shove, do you want the D student wrestling with a balky piece of equipment, or do you want the guy who really knows his stuff? There are places in life for the marginally qualified, but I would hope that when it comes down to life or death situations, we'd insist on a little bit more.
Finally, there is the appalling reality that the civil rights activists who started this suit have the unmitigated gall to suggest that a 24% break on the incoming test somehow qualifies as a step towards a level playing field.
A real step towards a level playing field, of course, would be a school system whose graduates read at better than the 6th grade level, but of course it's totally unrealistic to insist that Chicago kids actually be taught their phonics, I guess.
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