03-14-2008, 09:17 AM
NEW YORK TIMES
Suit by U.S. Accuses Miami Beach of Bias in Hiring Police Officers and Firefighters
By LARRY ROHTER,
Published: December 25, 1991
In a lawsuit made public here late Monday, the Department of Justice has accused the City of Miami Beach of discriminating against black and Hispanic people seeking jobs as police officers and firefighters.
The action by the Bush Administration came after more than five months of negotiations between Federal and city officials in an effort to get an out-of-court agreement that would avoid a long and costly legal battle. Those talks began after the Federal Government decided that the written tests given to applicants for police and firefighter jobs in Miami Beach were unfair to members of minorities.
"The Department of Justice will vigorously pursue this litigation to protect the rights of black and Hispanic applicants for police and fire positions in Miami Beach," Assistant Attorney General John R. Dunne said in Washington as the suit was being filed in Federal District Court here.
Politicians, police officers and firefighters in this resort city of 96,000 people were critical of the action and its timing. Some said they viewed the suit as an effort by the Administration to restore its own credibility on the eve of an election year after having been accused of not taking an aggressive stance on civil rights issues. Police and Firefighter Data
The Miami Beach Police Department has 316 officers, of whom 81.6 percent are white, 17 percent Hispanic and 1.4 percent black, according to city statistics. The 183-member Fire Department includes 14 Hispanic firefighters, among them a captain and two lieutenants, but no blacks.
Two years ago the city changed its Civil Service hiring procedures in an effort to broaden the pool from which city employees are selected. And, in an effort to recruit members of minorities, the city started a police cadet and firefighter apprentice program that includes city-paid scholarships.
"We haven't hired anybody in two years, but we do want to do what's right to resolve these problems," Braniard Dorrie, chief of the Miami Beach Fire Department, said today. "We're just a little taken aback because we think we had things worked out to the satisfaction of both sides."
Chief Phillip Huber of the Police Department was on vacation and unavailable for comment.
The Federal suit seeks to prohibit Miami Beach from engaging in any discriminatory practices based on race or national origin. It also seeks to oblige the city to remedy past discrimination through payments to previous minority applicants, a demand that quickly became the main sticking point in the talks.
"After negotiating with the Department of Justice for approximately five months, I don't believe any longer that the issue is stricty discrimination," Carla Talarico, the Acting City Manager of Miami Beach, said today. "We have voluntarily stopped using the exam which was the basis for their finding and have been negotiating a hiring program which would not discriminate. It appears that the real issue is money."
Ms. Talarico and other city officials said the Justice Department's proposed settlement included a requirement that Miami Beach set aside $745,000 as back pay and interest to be awarded to black and Hispanic applicants who did not get police or firefighting jobs. City officials had sought more information about how the department had arrived at the figure, which they say would virtually bankrupt the municipal government.
"Like most cities we have declining revenues, with the loss of Federal revenue sharing and some state revenues," said Ms. Talarico, who was named in the suit along with the fire chief, the police chief, the city's personnel board and former personnel director.
The lawsuit comes on the heels of another discrimination complaint whose settlement has partly drained the Miami Beach treasury. Earlier this year some Jewish lifeguards said they had been victims of anti-Semitism in the city's Beach Patrol Department, which adversely affected their prospects for promotions.
The city began its own inquiry and then reached a settlement in which $163,400 was paid to five Jewish lifeguards and their lawyers. But 19 other lifeguards have now filed reverse discrimination suits with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commision, Ms. Talarico said, and the city's legal staff is now responding to those complaints.
Suit by U.S. Accuses Miami Beach of Bias in Hiring Police Officers and Firefighters
By LARRY ROHTER,
Published: December 25, 1991
In a lawsuit made public here late Monday, the Department of Justice has accused the City of Miami Beach of discriminating against black and Hispanic people seeking jobs as police officers and firefighters.
The action by the Bush Administration came after more than five months of negotiations between Federal and city officials in an effort to get an out-of-court agreement that would avoid a long and costly legal battle. Those talks began after the Federal Government decided that the written tests given to applicants for police and firefighter jobs in Miami Beach were unfair to members of minorities.
"The Department of Justice will vigorously pursue this litigation to protect the rights of black and Hispanic applicants for police and fire positions in Miami Beach," Assistant Attorney General John R. Dunne said in Washington as the suit was being filed in Federal District Court here.
Politicians, police officers and firefighters in this resort city of 96,000 people were critical of the action and its timing. Some said they viewed the suit as an effort by the Administration to restore its own credibility on the eve of an election year after having been accused of not taking an aggressive stance on civil rights issues. Police and Firefighter Data
The Miami Beach Police Department has 316 officers, of whom 81.6 percent are white, 17 percent Hispanic and 1.4 percent black, according to city statistics. The 183-member Fire Department includes 14 Hispanic firefighters, among them a captain and two lieutenants, but no blacks.
Two years ago the city changed its Civil Service hiring procedures in an effort to broaden the pool from which city employees are selected. And, in an effort to recruit members of minorities, the city started a police cadet and firefighter apprentice program that includes city-paid scholarships.
"We haven't hired anybody in two years, but we do want to do what's right to resolve these problems," Braniard Dorrie, chief of the Miami Beach Fire Department, said today. "We're just a little taken aback because we think we had things worked out to the satisfaction of both sides."
Chief Phillip Huber of the Police Department was on vacation and unavailable for comment.
The Federal suit seeks to prohibit Miami Beach from engaging in any discriminatory practices based on race or national origin. It also seeks to oblige the city to remedy past discrimination through payments to previous minority applicants, a demand that quickly became the main sticking point in the talks.
"After negotiating with the Department of Justice for approximately five months, I don't believe any longer that the issue is stricty discrimination," Carla Talarico, the Acting City Manager of Miami Beach, said today. "We have voluntarily stopped using the exam which was the basis for their finding and have been negotiating a hiring program which would not discriminate. It appears that the real issue is money."
Ms. Talarico and other city officials said the Justice Department's proposed settlement included a requirement that Miami Beach set aside $745,000 as back pay and interest to be awarded to black and Hispanic applicants who did not get police or firefighting jobs. City officials had sought more information about how the department had arrived at the figure, which they say would virtually bankrupt the municipal government.
"Like most cities we have declining revenues, with the loss of Federal revenue sharing and some state revenues," said Ms. Talarico, who was named in the suit along with the fire chief, the police chief, the city's personnel board and former personnel director.
The lawsuit comes on the heels of another discrimination complaint whose settlement has partly drained the Miami Beach treasury. Earlier this year some Jewish lifeguards said they had been victims of anti-Semitism in the city's Beach Patrol Department, which adversely affected their prospects for promotions.
The city began its own inquiry and then reached a settlement in which $163,400 was paid to five Jewish lifeguards and their lawyers. But 19 other lifeguards have now filed reverse discrimination suits with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commision, Ms. Talarico said, and the city's legal staff is now responding to those complaints.