St. Paul Gets Go-Ahead From Judge To Use Gender, Race In Firefighter Hiring Decisions

From The Pioneer Press, October 25

ST. PAUL, Minn. – Twenty-seven St. Paul Fire Department recruits will be offered jobs this week after a Ramsey County judge Monday refused a firefighter union's request to block their hiring.

The move clears the way for Fire Chief Doug Holton to finish an intensive effort to recruit women and minorities to the department, which he has said does not reflect the diversity of the city.

"It's a victory for the citizens of St. Paul and for public safety," Holton said.

Holton said he would spend today narrowing the field of 88 finalists, with the ethnic and gender makeup of the final list still to be determined. But, Holton said, "We will have a diverse group that will go through the fire academy."

International Association of Fire Fighters Local 21 is suing the city, alleging it is violating a 1999 agreement on firefighter recruitment and hiring practices. The fire

Department now has more applicants who took its recruitment test than it does openings. Holton and other officials maintain that after the highest-scoring qualified candidates are offered jobs, the city should be able to pick and choose from among a remaining group of applicants whose test scores fall within a similar range.

The union charges that to narrow the field, the city must rank applicants within that last range individually and hire the top performers, rather than pick and choose from among the group.

District Court Judge Steven Wheeler agreed with the city, writing in an order that the union likely would not win its case. Wheeler wrote that it was important not to delay the hiring and training of firefighters, while the city's method "still embraces the concept of a competitive process."

A key to the decision was an affidavit filed by the author of the 1999 hiring agreement, Richard Jeanneret, who said the city is not violating the agreement.

That came as a surprise to union lawyer Jim Michaels, who accused Jeanneret of contradicting himself. In the 1999 report, Jeanneret recommended that individual scores "act as a tie-breaker" for recruits who fall into the same grouping.

Deputy City Attorney Jerry Hendrickson said that although the lawsuit is not over, "We are, at this point, free to hire."

In a statement, Mayor Randy Kelly said he spoke with Holton and told him to do just that. "We were confident that the city had acted prudently and lawfully in this matter," Kelly said.

The lawsuit quickly became a political hot potato after it was filed earlier this month. A group of prominent minority civic leaders accused the union, which has clashed with Kelly and endorsed challenger Chris Coleman in the Nov. 8 mayoral race, of playing politics. Kelly said the suit sends a "horrible message" to minorities.

Michaels said he was disappointed with the mayor's comments and said the suit was not about minorities. The suit did not affect a group of minority recruits, he said. Meanwhile, the union does not know the ethnic and gender makeup of the group of recruits at issue, he said.

"This — in no way, shape or form — was racially motivated," Michaels said.

Michaels said the union is waiting for details from the city about the recruiting process before deciding whether to continue with the suit.

Minorities make up nearly 37 percent of St. Paul's population. About 17 percent of the city's firefighter force is made up of minorities and 4 percent are women