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4 whites earn new fire jobs in reverse bias suit
by Ellen J. Silberman (Boston Herald)
Tuesday, August 26, 2003
Four white males who sued the Boston Fire Department for reverse discrimination after they were rejected as firefighter applicants must be hired the next time there is a vacancy, a federal judge ruled yesterday.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Stearns also ordered that the men, when hired, be paid on the salary grade as if they had been hired in October 2000 - the date they were passed over in favor of minority candidates.
A fifth plaintiff, Joseph Quinn, who was eventually hired in October 2002, also will see a pay hike under the ruling. All of the men will receive an amount of back pay determined by a mediator.
City officials reacted cautiously to the ruling.
``The city has just received this decision,'' mayoral spokesman Seth Gitell said. ``The city's lawyers are reviewing it and considering its implications for future hiring.''
Stearns' ruling had been anticipated since March when a federal appeals court lifted a 1974 court order mandating the fire department follow race-based hiring preferences to remedy past discrimination.
The plaintiffs' lawyer, Harold Litchen, did not immediately return phone calls last night.
by Ellen J. Silberman (Boston Herald)
Tuesday, August 26, 2003
Four white males who sued the Boston Fire Department for reverse discrimination after they were rejected as firefighter applicants must be hired the next time there is a vacancy, a federal judge ruled yesterday.
U.S. District Court Judge Richard Stearns also ordered that the men, when hired, be paid on the salary grade as if they had been hired in October 2000 - the date they were passed over in favor of minority candidates.
A fifth plaintiff, Joseph Quinn, who was eventually hired in October 2002, also will see a pay hike under the ruling. All of the men will receive an amount of back pay determined by a mediator.
City officials reacted cautiously to the ruling.
``The city has just received this decision,'' mayoral spokesman Seth Gitell said. ``The city's lawyers are reviewing it and considering its implications for future hiring.''
Stearns' ruling had been anticipated since March when a federal appeals court lifted a 1974 court order mandating the fire department follow race-based hiring preferences to remedy past discrimination.
The plaintiffs' lawyer, Harold Litchen, did not immediately return phone calls last night.
