Firefighters plan suit

Sarah Langbein and Daniel J. Chac?n, Rocky Mountain News

Published August 5, 2006 at midnight

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A group of Denver firefighters say they are preparing to sue the city and take their complaints to the federal government, alleging hiring discrimination.

The heart of their claim: the fire department hasn't hired a black firefighter in six years.

But the issues don't end there, the group's leader said Friday.

Firefighters Incorporated for Racial Equality, or FIRE, has hired lawyer Kenneth Padilla to take its grievances to the Denver office of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

If that happens, which is expected in the next six to eight weeks, it would be the second public safety organization in the city to take bias complaints to the federal investigators.

Safety Manager Al LaCabe, who is black, said the city has been working to address issues raised by FIRE for more than a year.

"I do not believe that any allegations they make could amount to discrimination," he said. "We agree with the FIRE and with anyone else that we want to raise minority hiring, and we think we have taken steps to do that, but none of this amounts to racial discrimination."

LaCabe also said Denver has implemented changes to diversify the fire department.

"We're hopeful (their complaints) can be resolved without the intervention of the EEOC or without a court action," he said.

In March, the Denver Police Latino Organization announced it was filing complaints with EEOC and the Department of Justice, saying members had been discriminated against in recruitment, hiring, assignments, promotions, discipline and retaliation.

"FIRE's primary concern is the issue of staffing with adequate and qualified minority candidates," the group wrote to city leaders and national fire organizations in June. "Many believe it is now and will be the number one issue facing the department for the next five years. If we do not act quickly, the department, the city and the community will face a crisis that will have political and legal ramifications in the near future."

The group has yet to hear back from Mayor John Hickenlooper, Earl Peterson, executive director of the Denver Civil Service Commission, or LaCabe, FIRE's president Dale Chavez said.

The fire group, with 185 members, is calling attention to the recruiting process. The ultimate hope is to prod the city council to find additional funding for recruitment, not take it out of the fire department's current budget, Chavez said.

"Where has city council been?" Chavez said in response to recent comments by council members who are calling for answers on minority hiring. "People are the solution, and they haven't been. And now they want to jump on the boat.

"This shouldn't be a news flash to anyone."

They say it comes down to pay now or pay later — in the form of a lawsuit.

Currently, two black firefighters recruit for the department. At one point, there were at least five recruiters of various races and ethnicity and both genders.

But budget cuts reduced staffing.

To help with what they could, FIRE and Colorado Black Professional Firefighters teamed up this year to bridge the gap between recruitment and exam time. With the help of Emily Griffith Opportunity School, potential recruits honed their math and grammar skills before the big test.

"You can't go into a test cold and do well," Chavez said.

Additionally, the group would like to see a change in how the test is administered. Prior to March 16, 2002, the Civil Service Commission used the "cattle call" method. Every two years, the entry-level firefighters test was given just once on a Saturday, drawing 2,000 to 4,000 applicants.

Now, applicants can come in for a computerized test, on any day they choose, Monday through Friday.

"I don't know about you, but I don't know too many people who can afford to take a day off of work," Chavez said.

The group also worries the ranks of minority firefighters are quickly dwindling. FIRE says that over the next five years, 35 percent of Hispanic and 36 percent of black firefighters will become eligible for retirement.

Who will replace them? the group has asked.

Other data, compiled by FIRE, shows that since computerized testing has been implemented, the percentage of black firefighters hired has decreased from 7 percent to zero.

The proportion of Hispanic firefighters hired have plummeted from 22 percent to 8.3 percent. Women hires have declined from 9 percent to 6 percent. And the only group to climb has been white men, from 69 percent to 79 percent.

Larry Lee, 31, who is black, said he's been trying to join the fire department for five years. The Denver native said he's taken the firefighter exam four or five times.

Lee, who enrolled at the Community College of Denver to hone his math skills after he failed the first time, said he finally passed the test in April, "but the ranking system knocked me out of the boat."

Lee said he realizes others tested better than he did, but if the city is looking for qualified blacks to be firefighters, he's still available.

In the meantime, Lee said he's going to pursue a political science degree at Metro State College of Denver. He's not giving up on his dream of being a fireman either.

"I feel more determined," he said. "I feel more willing to do whatever it takes at this point to achieve higher because of their expectations."

chacond@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5099

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