Durham will pay $1M to firefighter applicants rejected by unintentionally racist test
Durham will pay nearly $1 million to 16 African Americans rejected from becoming firefighters after a test used to weed out job candidates was found to be unintentionally discriminatory.
The city announced on Tuesday that it had settled a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice that accused the Durham Fire Department of violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
At issue was a written test administered since 2015 to screen applicants for entry-level firefighter jobs in Durham.
The DOJ found that African Americans disproportionately failed the test when compared to white applicants, and were therefore prevented from getting interviews, despite the test not actually being related to the job.
According to the lawsuit, 37% of Black applicants failed and 11% of white applicants failed, a statistically significant difference.
“Discriminatory employment tests do more than cost applicants a fair chance to compete for public service jobs like firefighting; they also prevent communities from being served in these crucial positions by the most qualified candidates for the job,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke, of the justice department’s Civil Rights Division, said in a news release Tuesday.
City will stop using test after lawsuit
The city denies breaking the law, but will stop using the test regardless.
“I am pleased that the DOJ’s comprehensive, four-year review confirmed no intentional discrimination in our hiring practices,” Fire Chief Robert J. Zoldos II said in a news release Tuesday.
“Since 2020, we have been very focused on improving our hiring processes and have a strong focus on hiring people of color and women,” the statement continued.
The city will give the 16 people disqualified by the test the opportunity for prioritized hiring, plus back pay from a $980,000 fund being established. The payouts will vary based on when the person applied.
Though the city and DOJ have agreed on the terms of a settlement, a federal court must still sign off on it. The city is hiring a claims administrator to notify those who were affected.
According to the lawsuit, the 100-question multiple choice test was developed by Fire and Police Solutions, Inc. and included:
- 15 reading questions
- 20 math questions
- 20 writing questions
- 15 map-reading questions
- 30 questions on interpersonal competency and human relations
- For two years, an additional section added 28 reasoning questions.
