Eastern District Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis has extended a temporary injunction barring New York City from using its most recent firefighter test to screen applicants. The judge had ruled the test, Exam 6019, discriminatory and ordered the city to develop an interim means of screening applicants while a long-term remedy was being litigated (NYLJ, Jan. 22). Last Monday, the judge gave the city five temporary options for hiring firefighters (NYLJ, Sept. 14). On Friday, the city rejected all five methods, describing them in a letter to the court as “illegal…race-based quotas.” The city would rather forego hiring necessary firefighters than to use any of the proposed measures, Corporation Counsel Michael A. Cardozo wrote (NYLJ, Sept. 20).
In a four-page order issued yesterday, Judge Garaufis responded by extending the preliminary injunction against the city and reprimanding the city for Mr. Cardozo’s statements. “The City is admonished that any arguments concerning the legality or illegality of possible injunctive relief must be accompanied by citation to relevant legal authority. To the extent that the City objects to either the form or scope of the relief sought, it is instructed to specify what alternative relief would be appropriate,” Judge Garaufis wrote in United States v. City of New York, 07-cv-2067. “While the court is aware that the City disagrees with the conclusions of the 6019 Validity Order, the court will not permit the City to re-litigate it now. The City is counseled that further obstructionism in this litigation will ill-serve the public interest.” The judge gave the plaintiffs—the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District and the Vulcan Society, a professional group for black firefighters—until Sept. 30 to seek a permanent injunction barring use of the exam. — Mark Fass
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