THE VULCAN Society: NYC fire department settles discrimination lawsuit

THE VULCAN Society of black firefighters

The court battle began in 2007, when the United States Justice Department filed a lawsuit against the department after the Vulcan Society complained that the entrance exams used by the department were biased against minority applicants.

At the time, the department was over 90 percent white and a federal judge ruled that the entrance examination was in violation of civil rights laws and the United States Constitution.
About 1,500 minorities who took New York City fire department entrance exams that were found to be biased will be eligible to receive back pay totaling $98 million, a black firefighters' group that had sued the city over racial discrimination.

The settlement of the 7-year-old case capped a long and arduous legal fight by the group, the Vulcan Society, over diversity in the fire department. In a city where more than half of residents identify with a racial minority group, black firefighters have never made up more than 4 percent of the department's total. 

The issue of whether the city intentionally discriminated against minority applicants to the FDNY was decided in the Vulcans' favor by Brooklyn Federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis. But the U.S. Court of Appeals threw out the ruling last year and ordered a retrial before a different judge.

As part of the settlement on Tuesday, [March 18, 2014] the Fire Department agreed to create a chief of diversity and inclusion, who will report directly to the fire commissioner, as well as a diversity advocate who will monitor hiring practices and cadet training for discrimination.

Our Time Press: United States of America and Vulcan Society, Inc. v. City of New York