Atlanta firefighters prevail in discrimination suit against city

By Joel Anderson

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Three Atlanta Fire Rescue employees prevailed in their class-action lawsuit against Atlanta on Friday, when a Fulton County jury found the city didn't fully investigate allegations of cheating by black firefighters on a promotional exam.

The verdict means the city may have to invalidate the results of the old test and hold a retest of the lieutenant's exam. Firefighters who score high enough for a promotion could then become eligible for back pay and interest dating to the earlier test, plaintiffs' attorney Lee Parks said.

The parties will return to court March 8 to determine what the city owes the firefighters in attorney's fees. If the two sides can't reach an agreement, Fulton Superior Court Judge Kelly Amanda Lee will determine the amount of the award.

"We've been waiting on this day for a long time," said Victor Bennett, one of the three plaintiffs in the lawsuit.

Robert Godfrey, senior assistant city attorney, said the city will consider an appeal.

"I think ultimately we will be vindicated," he said.

The three Fire Rescue employees -- two white and one black -- sued the city in July 2010, alleging some firefighters were given the answers to questions before they took a promotion exam earlier that year. The plaintiffs represented nearly 160 other city employees who took the same test in April 2010.

The lawsuit concerned five black firefighters who were members of the same study group and finished among the top eight highest test scorers.

According to the suit, two assistant fire chiefs and members of the Atlanta black firefighters association Brothers Combined provided exam answers to the other black fire employees before they took the test in April 2010.

"As a result of preferred persons receiving a corrupt and unfair advantage," the suit said, "such individuals received higher scores than they otherwise would have received."

The lawsuit also accused the city's Human Resources Department of conducting a "superficial at best" review of the cheating allegations. "The DHR review was nothing more than a whitewash," the plaintiffs alleged.

Godfrey dismissed those allegations, saying the plaintiff's case "basically centered on the idea that you couldn't be an African-American in 2010 and do well on a test."

"I don't believe that in this day and time," he said.

There was a hold placed on the five firefighters' promotions while the issue was being litigated.

Parks said the verdict should be a warning to city officials that they need to address corruption within the fire department.

"My clients took on the top four people in the department," Parks said, referring to top Fire Rescue administrators named in the suit. "Think what would have happened to them if they lost."