Opinion ID: 149872
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The 1980 Consent Decree and the City's Ensuing Hiring for SFD

Text: The events leading to the entry of the Consent Decree appear to be undisputed and were described in Vivenzio I, in pertinent part, as follows: In 1978, African Americans comprised only 1% of the City's fire department.... The City sought to increase the percentages of African Americans ...; however, provisions of the New York Civil Service Law limited its control over the hiring process. Specifically, all persons interested in [such] positions were required to take a civil service examination prepared, administered, and graded by New York State (State). [The Onondaga County Personnel Department] then compiled a list of Onondaga County (County) residents who passed the civil service examination, ranking them based on their examination scores. Such lists were known as eligible lists. Under Civil Service Law § 61(1), local fire ... departments were required to hire from among the three highest scoring candidates on the list-referred to as the rule of three. Application of the rule of three almost always resulted in the hiring of white males for City firefighter ... positions. However, if the City deviated from the process just described, its officials would be subject to civil and criminal liability under the Civil Service Law. 545 F.Supp.2d at 246. Accordingly, City officials commenced an action, Alexander v. Bahou , against the New York State Civil Service Commission and the Commissioner of the Onondaga County Department of Personnel, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief prohibiting the State and County from administering the existing civil service examinationwhich, the City believed, disproportionately disqualified or otherwise devalued African American ... examinees in violation of federal and state employment discrimination lawsand directing them to implement new, nondiscriminatory examinations. Vivenzio I, 545 F.Supp.2d at 247. While the City's lawsuit was pending, the United States Department of Justice began an investigation and eventually commenced its own action under Title VII, United States City of Syracuse, 80-CV-53, alleging that there had been discrimination in, inter alia, the past hiring of entry-level firefighters in SFD. After a period of intensive negotiations, the parties agreed to settle both lawsuits. The district court granted a motion to consolidate the actions and approved the parties' agreements, which were embodied in the Consent Decree. The Decree provided in part that 6. The City desires to and shall adopt, and use its good faith efforts to achieve, the long-term goal to utilize blacks in all ranks within [SFD] ... in numbers approximating their representation within the labor force which is available for employment in the City of Syracuse and their interest in, and ability to qualify for, such positions. Subject to the foregoing sentence, the parties agree that the long-term goal for blacks in each rank is approximately 10%. 7. To achieve this long-term goal, and subject to the availability of qualified black applicants on the appropriate eligible list, the City desires to and shall seek, annually, commencing with the entry of this decree, on an interim basis to achieve the goal of hiring blacks for 25% of all entry-level firefighter ... hires. To the extent necessary to meet the annual interim goal, the City desires to and shall grant a preference to blacks who have successfully passed the applicable examinations in a manner analogous, but not identical, to the preference that has historically been given to City residents in accordance with Civil Service Law § 23(4-a) as currently enacted. (Consent Decree art. V, ¶¶ 6-7.) The Decree provided that after it had been in effect for five years any party could move for its dissolution. (Consent Decree art. V, ¶ 18.) In approving the Decree, the district court noted that both actions allege[d] discriminatory hiring practices with respect to the ... fire department [ ], both actions allege[d] that the applicable civil service examinations [we]re not job related, both actions proclaim[ed] that the civil service examinations ha[d] adverse impact upon minorities.... Alexander v. Bahou, 86 F.R.D. at 198. The court found that, although the Consent Decree did not contain any admission of liability, the statistical evidence presented to the court demonstrated a pattern of long continued and egregious racial discrimination. Id. at 199. Thus, the court noted that although the 1970 census data showed that African Americans comprise[d] 10% of the civilian labor force in Syracuse and SFD employed 478 firefighters, only four were African Americans. Id. Civil service examinations for firefighter positions in municipalities in Onondaga County, New York, are administered by the Onondaga County Personnel Department (OCPD). After entry of the Consent Decree, when the City requested lists of persons eligible for entry-level firefighter positions, OCPD certified two listsone referred to as the `general list'; and another containing the names of eligible African American candidates, inartfully referred to as the `black list,' Vivenzio I, 545 F.Supp.2d at 247. In most of the years from 1981 through 2005, the City hired firefighters from both lists. According to the statistics presented to the district court in the present case, the City in the 1980s hired 144 new firefighters, of whom 41, or about 28.5%, were African American. In that decade, the approximate percentage of African Americans hired ranged from 7.7% (in 1984) to 47.1% (in 1981). In the 1990s, the City hired 106 new firefighters, of whom 15, or about 14.2%, were African American. The percentage of African Americans hired in the 1990s ranged from 0% (in 1992, 1993, 1995, and 1999) to 25% (in 1994). In 2000, 2001, and 2002, the City hired a total of 55 new firefighters, of whom 14, or about 25.45%, were African American. By April 2004, approximately 16.58% of the City's firefighters were African American.