Fort Sumter: Justice Under Sotomayor??
Last week I watched Lt. Ben Vargas testify at the Senate confirmation hearing of Judge Sotomayor. Lt Vargas is a Hispanic member of the New Haven, CT fire department and was one of the plaintiffs in the racial discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of the New Haven firefighters, who were denied promotion after passing a test of their competence for the position of Captain. These Firefighters, including Lt. Vargus, sacrificed time with their families for months and in some cases income from second jobs to study for the job related test. As I would want if I ever needed Lt. Vargas and his crew in an emergency, the test was hard and not everyone passed! This time, many of those who failed were African American, with none passing. There was the threat of a lawsuit by African Americans who failed the test, just the threat mind you, and the city buckled and threw out the results. These Firefighters earned a promotion and they were denied it unjustly. (more…)
