Connecticut Firefighters to be Promoted
Good news! After the Supreme Court ruled in favor of 17 White and 1 Hispanic firefighter who had been denied promotion after they passed their promotion exams but no Black candidates passed, the state of Connecticut will honor the ruling (at the prompting of a federal judge, of course) and promote the firefighters “as soon as practicable.” Connecticut had feared a lawsuit from Black firefighters who did not pass the test if they promoted the White and Hispanic firefighters who did pass the test. The White and Hispanic firefighters brought their own suit claiming reverse discrimination (though I hate that term – discrimination is discrimination, period). The concern is that the promotion test is race-biased, because no Black candidates passed, though as I understand it the test was designed to be race-neutral. Do I think the state should review the test for fairness? Absolutely. Should other firefighters be denied their promotions? Absolutely not.
