Opinion ID: 672341
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Characteristics of the job

Text: 26 To adequately assess statistical data, there must be evidence identifying the basic qualifications of an entry-level firefighter and a determination, based upon these qualifications, of the relevant statistical pool with which to make the appropriate comparisons. See Croson, 488 U.S. at 501-02, 109 S.Ct. at 725; Long v. City of Saginaw, 911 F.2d 1192, 1199 (6th Cir.1990). In identifying the basic job qualifications, an inquiry must be made to determine whether those qualifications rise to the level of special skills. Croson, 488 U.S. at 501, 109 S.Ct. at 726. This inquiry is necessary because in order to determine discriminatory exclusion, unskilled positions are compared to a different statistical pool than are jobs requiring special skills. See Teamsters v. United States, 431 U.S. 324, 337-38, 97 S.Ct. 1843, 1855-56, 52 L.Ed.2d 396 (1977). This flows from the Court's recognition that where special skills are implicated, comparison to the general population (rather than to the smaller group of individuals who possess the necessary qualifications) may have little probative value. Croson, id. at 501, 109 S.Ct. at 726 (quoting Hazelwood School Dist. v. United States, 433 U.S. 299, 308 n. 13, 97 S.Ct. 2736, 2742 n. 13, 53 L.Ed.2d 768 (1977)). 12 Thus, for positions requiring minimal training or for certain entry level positions, statistical comparison to the racial composition of the relevant population suffices, whereas positions requiring special skills necessitate a determination of the number of minorities qualified to undertake the particular task. Croson, 488 U.S. at 501-02, 109 S.Ct. at 726. 27 The Supreme Court has offered limited guidance in distinguishing skilled positions from unskilled, illustrating the fact-intensive nature of the inquiry. A position may be deemed unskilled where the skill required is one that many persons possess or can fairly readily acquire. Hazelwood, supra, 433 U.S. at 308 n. 13, 97 S.Ct. at 2742 n. 13. Entry level positions require no special prior abilities because they are, in fact, designed to provide expertise. Johnson v. Transportation Agency, Santa Clara County, 480 U.S. 616, 632, 107 S.Ct. 1442, 1452, 94 L.Ed.2d 615 (1987). The district court specifically found that the seven prerequisites for the firefighter position at issue here do not rise to the level of special skills. We doubt that even a charitable reading of Peightal's brief reflects any challenge to this finding of the district court. Moreover, there is no basis for rejecting as clearly erroneous the trial court's finding that firefighter applicants are unskilled for purposes of comparative statistical analysis. Fed.R.Civ.P. 52(a). 13 28