New Haven Firefighters Promoted After Court Battle
Firefighters won reverse discrimination case
AP
Members of the "New Haven 20" received their promotions after a lengthy court battle that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
New Haven’s Board of Fire Commissioners met Tuesday and officially promoted 14 firefighters. The men sued the city for those promotions and ended up taking their case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Outside of the meeting, held in a conference room on the second floor of the Grand Avenue firehouse, two newly promoted captains embraced.
"We're captains," they sighed.
It took six years to get here - but only a few minutes for it to be over. All ten fire commissioners voted in favor of promoting the 14 men who make up a part of the New Haven 20. Six are now captains, eight are lieutenants.
In 2004, 19 white firefighters and one Hispanic sued New Haven after the city threw out a promotion test they took in 2003. The city claimed not enough minorities passed.
Their case made it to the U.S. Supreme Court this year. The court sided with the firefighters calling it a case of reverse discrimination.
The Civil Service Commission approved the promotions Monday, and the Board of Fire Commissioners followed suit Tuesday.
Board President Boise Kimber referred to the lawsuit directly during the meeting.
"The highest court has spoken and certainly we want to abide by what that court has to say," Kimber said.
Most of the firefighters involved in the lawsuit were present but only two commented after the promotions.
"Feels great…long time coming," Captain Gambardella said simply.
"Looking forward to serving the position," Captain Marcarelli said.
The 14 men will be sworn in during a ceremony later this week. Then it's time to get to work according to Chief Michael Grant of the New Haven Fire Department.
"They’ll be getting their assignments when they get sworn," he said.
Still, there are two groups of firefighters with unresolved issues.
A group of black firefighters claim the test is flawed, and their lawyer entered a motion to stay against these promotions. They say they still plan to fight to change the test.
Also, there are ten firefighters who were not part of the lawsuit, but passed the test. The firefighters union president Patrick Egan said they're entitled to promotions too.
"That's kind of in limbo as to where the city is going to go with that... we would hope that everybody who would’ve been promoted, would be," he said.
The promotion ceremony for the 14 firefighters scheduled for Thursday, December 10.
Posted Tuesday, Dec 1, 2009 - 6:36 PM EST
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