Firefighter sues against city test

New Haven (WTNH) - An African American New Haven firefighter has filed a federal lawsuit against the city over a promotion test.

It's the first such suit following last summer's Supreme Court ruling which said city leaders were wrong to scrap the 2,000 test results because too few minorities would have been promoted.

They're called the "New Haven 20" -- mostly white firefighters who sued for discrimination after the city threw out the results of a 2003 promotion exam.

A landmark Supreme Court decision in June ruled in the firefighters favor. Now, an African-American firefighter, Michael Briscoe, is taking his case to court over the same exam. Quinnipiac law professor Bill Dunlap said this action was expected.

"Almost immediately, some of the black firefighters in New Haven said they would take this up again," said Dunlap.

In a Federal lawsuit, filed Thursday, Briscoe alleges the city wrongly gives more weight to the test's written part than the oral section. Briscoe also said that emphasis has an unfair impact on African-Americans.

"This lawsuit is exactly what the city was afraid of when it canceled the test results in the first place. They realized, with the disparate impact they had, that all the successful candidates were white, and all the minority candidates fell to low on the list," said Dunlap.

The complaint said Briscoe "demonstrated superior" qualifications for promotion, getting the top score in the oral exam. He is asking for an immediate promotion to lieutenant, including a raise. City Corporation Counsel Victor Bolden calls this suit a roadblock to real progress.

"Since the day of the Supreme Court ruling, the city has really been trying to move forward, and not look backwards," said Bolden. "But, obviously there's always the possibility; people want to be mired in the past rather than look toward the future."

News Channel 8 did speak with Briscoe's attorney David Rosen on the phone. He did not wish to speak about the case publicly yet but did say the complaint speaks for itself.

Meanwhile, Bolden said the "New Haven 20" case is still in the process of going back to a New Haven court. The city must wait on the court decision before enacting the promotions.