Fire Law Blog Fire Service and Public Safety Legal Issues Blog by Curt Varone
The next chapter of the epic US Supreme Court case, Lewis v. Chicago, involving the Chicago Fire Department was written yesterday by the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals. The court ruled that the Chicago Fire Department must hire 111 black applicants and pay $30 million in damages to black applicants who were unfairly denied jobs.
The case stemmed from a 1995 recruitment examination that showed an adverse impact (a statistical difference) for black candidates who took the test versus white candidates. Under Federal law, someone who alleges employment discrimination is required to file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), or the designated state law employment commission, within 300 days of the employment action they seek to challenge. Filing with the EEOC is a procedural pre-requisite to filing a lawsuit.
The case went to the US Supreme Court on the issue of when the 300 day period of limitations runs: from the day of the exam, the day the exam results are announced, the first day the exam was used, or any time results from the exam are used. The Court chose the latter, finding a separate act of discrimination each time a fire department starts a training academy based upon a list that was racially biased.
No word on whether the city plans to appeal the 7th Circuit’s ruling on the forced hiring or the damage award. For more on the story. And more.
