Briscoe.
Just over two weeks after the Ricci firefighters case wrapped up in a settlement with the city, a loose end came unraveled.
Three Second Circuit judges ruled Monday in favor of an appeal brought by New Haven firefighter Michael Briscoe, who seeks to be promoted to the position of lieutenant. The decision means that he’ll have a chance to argue in court that he should have gotten the promotion — if the city’s test hadn’t been unfairly scored. Read the opinion here.
Briscoe’s case is based on the same controversial promotions exam that touched off the series of events that culminated in a Supreme Court decision against the city in 2009 in the case known as Ricci v. DeStefano. Monday’s appeals decision means that the city will again have to argue in court about the fairness of the exam and who should or should not have been promoted from it.
The controversial test was administered in 2004. The city threw out the results when no black firefighter scored high enough to be promoted in the first round of advancements. That action sparked a lawsuit by a mostly white group of 20 New Haven firefighters, who claimed they had been discriminated against.
The Supreme Court ruled in their favor and sent the case back to New Haven federal court. Some members of the so-called New Haven 20 were eventually promoted; last month they won a settlement worth several millions of dollars.
When the Ricci case came back to New Haven, 39-year-old Briscoe sought to intervene, claiming that he should be promoted due to unfairness in the promotions exam scoring methodology.
Briscoe’s suit argues that he should have been promoted, and would have been, if the city hadn’t used an unfair scoring methodology.
The exam consisted of two parts: one verbal, one written. The city weighted the former at 40 percent of the final score, the latter at 60 percent. That’s not fair, argued Briscoe, who had the top score on the verbal portion but scored poorly on the written.
Briscoe’s complaint argues that a 60/40 split has been shown to have a disparate impact on African-American firefighters.
His intervention attempt was unsuccessful, as was a separate suit, which Judge Charles S. Haight Jr. dismissed in April 2010.
Briscoe, and his attorney, David Rosen, appealed the decision. In Judge Haight’s view, the Ricci decision precluded Briscoe from filing suit, Rosen said. Monday’s opinion says Haight was wrong, Rosen said.
The opinion, drafted by Chief Judge Dennis Jacobs, finds that the Supreme Court Ricci decision was limitedto the specific matter of the New Haven 20, and was not aimed at making broad changes the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The Supreme Court “did not did not substantially change Title VII disparate-impact litigation or preclusion principles in the single sentence of dicta targeted at the parties in this action. We follow the Court’s clear explication of its limited holding,” the opinion states.
“Under the most fair job-related measure available, Michael Briscoe is entitled to be a lieutenant,” Rosen said on Friday. “Everyone’s entitled to their day in court.”
Rosen said Briscoe seeks only to be promoted. He said Briscoe is “really gratified. He’s looking forward to a chance to prove he’s the best person for the job.”
City Corporation Counsel Victor Bolden had this to say in an email message: “An employer must be able to promote with certainty. Here, consistent with the Supreme Court’s mandate and based on examination results, the City of New Haven already has made all of the required promotions. There is no legal basis for promoting anyone else and nothing in the Second Circuit’s decision suggests anything different.”
Past stories on fire department promotions and the Ricci case:
• New Haven 20 Win $2M+; Lawyers Win $3M
• Arterton Asks 2nd Judge To Look At Ricci Conflict Claim
• Torre Blasts Ricci Judge For Consorting With “Feminists”
• Judge Swings Back; Ricci Case Stalls
• “Tinney Intervenors” Step Down In Ricci Case
• Ricci Victors Seek Damages
• After 6‑Year Battle, Firefighters Get Badges
• Ricci Case’s “Tinney Intervenors” Try Again
• 10 More Firefighters Promoted
• Judge Blocks Black Firefighters’ Move
• Board Promotes 14 Firefighters
• Judge Orders Firefighter Promotions
• Black Firefighters Seek To Halt Promotions
• Promotions Pitched In Ricci Case
• Ricci’s Back In Court
• After Ricci Ruling, Black Firefighter Sues City
• Ricci Takes The Stand
• In D.C., Two Latino Views On Sotomayor
• Dems Swing Back On Ricci
• ConnectiCOSH Kibosh
• Sotomayor: I Didn’t “Hide” Ricci Case
• Is Ricci Being Smeared?
• Sotomayor Speaks On Ricci
• Ricci Takes Center Stage
• Watley: I’d Have Promoted Ricci
• Firebirds, NAACP: Ricci Won’t Stop Us
• “If You Work Hard You Can Succeed In America”
• Was He The Culprit?
• Supreme Court Overturns City On Ricci
• On Page 25, A Hint
• Minority Firefighters Vow Post-Ricci Unity
• Ricci Ruling Won’t End Quest
• Ricci, Sotomayor Brand DeStefano
• Firefighter Case Reveals Surprise Obama Stand
• Justices Zero In On Race-Based Distinctions
• Rights Groups Back Black Firefighters
• The Supreme Stakes: Title VII’s Future
• Dobbs v. Bolden
• Latino Group Backs White Firefighters
• Black Firefighters: Ricci Case Poses Grave Threat
• NAACP Backs City In Firefighter Case
• Paging Justice Kennedy
• Fire Inspectors Promoted
• Fire Inspector List Approved
• U.S. Supreme Court To Hear Firefighters’ Case
• Fire Promotions Examined in Supreme Court