A black firefighters' group who had filed a legal claim against the New York City Fire Department announced on Tuesday that around 1,500 minority applicants who had taken the department's entrance exams could get back pay at a combined amount of $98 million. The Associated Press had said that the announcement marked the seven-year journey of the Vulcan Society to encourage diversity in the city fire department. The news agency noted that blacks historically made up of just a little over 4% of the fire department's number of firefighters .
Former president of the Vulcan Society, Capt. Paul Washington, said about the announcement, "This is a great day in the city of New York. And we hope that this is the beginning of a new day for the New York City Fire Department."
The controversial test, said AP determines firefighters' assignments to houses in neighborhoods that are close to where they live. Although the payment has yet to be decided and is still subject for a federal judge's approval, eligible firefighters will also get over $6 million as compensation for medical payments, fringe benefits and interest for firefighters who took the exams in 1999 and 2002. AP said that the results of the tests in the years mentioned were found to be biased.
The city has yet to appoint a new fire commissioner.
In a statement, Mayor Bill de Blasio lauded the latest developments of the lawsuit, which read, "The brave men and women of the FDNY work tirelessly to keep us safe from harm's way - and our administration is committed to ensuring every New Yorker who seeks to take on this heroic role has a fair opportunity to join the ranks."
Vulcan Society's lawyers in the suit, Richard Levy, commented, "This settlement is very much about a new administration that was willing to talk about the problem as a real problem that existed and that had to be confronted not just as an issue to defend."
