Supreme Court backs New Haven Firefighters

[sigmadiva]

Originally Posted by DrPhil

I can see both sides of the issue. I think the court did what makes sense and sets a good precedent given the context.

I agree.

The test wasn't deemed discriminatory by intent. It was exclusionary by outcome.

What do you mean by this? I don't understand. I mean, I can see where the test was not meant to be discriminatory, but how was the outcome exclusionary, based on race, I presume?

[starang21]

Originally Posted by sigmadiva

but how was the outcome exclusionary, based on race, I presume?

no black firefighters and only one latino fire fighters got promoted.

[UGAalum94]

Originally Posted by starang21

no black firefighters and only one latino fire fighters got promoted.

NO. No one got promoted because no black firefighters and only one latino fire fighter scored well enough to be promoted.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/...in;contentBody

One of the things that's interesting to me about this is that at one point someone tried to review the test to see what was biased about the questions asked. I'm trying to find a link to the results.

I can't find the article I remember reading but this discusses some of the issues:http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/news...e=1&cat=&more=

[starang21]

Originally Posted by UGAalum94

NO. No one got promoted because no black firefighters and only one latino fire fighters scored well enough to be promoted.

well, yea. ok, the reason i stated was the reason the test got thrown out initially.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by starang21

well, yea. ok, the reason i stated was the reason the test got thrown out initially.

No it wasn't, because like UGAalum94 says, no one got promoted.

The test results were thrown out because (again, as UGAalum94 says) no black firefighters and only one latino fire fighters scored well enough to be promoted to begin with, leading the city to believe that if it certified and relied on the test results, the city would be open to a lawsuit claiming that the test was unfair to non-whites. So instead, they got a lawsuit from the employees who would have been promoted had the test results been certified.

[starang21]

Originally Posted by MysticCat

The test results were thrown out because (again, as UGAalum94 says) no black firefighters and only one latino fire fighters scored well enough to be promoted to begin with

Originally Posted by me

no black firefighters and only one latino fire fighter

good grief. talk about majoring in minors. that was the geist of my post.

[MysticCat]

Originally Posted by starang21

good grief. talk about majoring in minors. that was the geist of my post.

Sue me -- I'm a lawyer and I pick the nits like crazy when it comes to court opinions.

And here, it is a distinction with a legal difference -- or at least a difference that matters in understanding the opinion -- I think.

[DrPhil]

Originally Posted by starang21

good grief. talk about majoring in minors. that was the geist of my post.

I was getting ready to say you all are typing in circles over semantics. I knew what you meant.