Durham to Lower Standards for Black Firefighters After DOJ Finds "Disparate Impact"
The city will set aside $980k and 16 positions for black firefighter applicants who failed basic competency exam
Are you a Durham citizen who is concerned that the firefighters responding to your emergency may be too proficient in reading ability, math, map reading, writing ability, and human relations?
Never fear! The City of Durham has agreed to cease the use of a screening exam by the Durham Fire Department (DFD) for entry-level firefighting positions after a four-year investigation by the Department of Justice found that black applicants were three times more likely to fail the written exam than white applicants.
The Complaint
The complaint filed Monday by the DOJ in the federal Middle District of North Carolina (1:24-cv-00838) alleges that the city "unintentionally engaged in a pattern or practice of discrimination against African-American applicants" by "making hiring decisions based on a written examination".
The complaint does not allege that the department explicitly rejected candidates because of their race, or made decisions based on any questions that overtly (or covertly) involved their race. Instead, the DOJ argues that the violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act occurred under the legal theory of "disparate impact", meaning a policy or practice which disproportionately affects members of a particular race or protected group.
In this case, the complaint alleges that the use of a 100-question multiple-choice written examination for entry-level firefighter positions was discriminatory as black applicants, on average, attained lower scores than their white counterparts.
The recruiting process of the DFD since at least 2015 used the applicants' scores from this test in two ways. Firstly, any candidate scoring less than 70% on the examination was eliminated from the process. Secondly, if the number of applicants eligible for the interview stage of the process exceeded the number of slots available, applicants with the lowest test scores were eliminated.
The DOJ reports that ~37% of black applicants failed the examination, as opposed to ~11% of white applicants; ~32% of the remaining black applicants were further eliminated due to low score ranking, as opposed to ~14% of the white applicants who made it to the same stage.
Although the reading, writing, math, map reading, and human relations questions on the exam all involve firefighting-related scenarios, the DOJ argues that examination in these areas is not "job related for the DFD entry-level firefighter position" or "consistent with business necessity".
Impossibly Difficult or Unbelievably Simple?
The Comprehensive Examination Battery (CEB), designed by Fire and Police Selection, Inc. for entry-level firefighter candidates aims to "measure the skills, abilities, and personal characteristics that comprise a successful firefighter". Test-takers have two and a half hours to answer 100 multi-choice questions among the following categories:
Reading Ability-15 items
Mathematical Reasoning-20 items
Map Reading-15 items
Writing Ability-20 items
Human Relations-30 items
An analysis of the sample questions provided in study material reveals the level of capability required to pass the exam.
To answer the sample questions for the Reading Ability portion of the exam correctly, the test-taker needs only to "locate relevant information" and "make simple inferences", which is defined as a "Basic" fourth grade reading achievement level by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The Writing Ability questions similarly only require basic spelling and grammar skills.
The sample math questions require approximately the same proficiency level, requiring only simple operations such as addition and multiplication:
The Map Reading questions are similarly basic, requiring the test-taker to answer navigational and directional questions from a simple map provided.
The only deviation from the elementary school level questions might be in the Human Relations section, which tests the applicant on morals and firefighter culture.
An Unpopular Fact
Although the material for the CEB claims that it is "not a measure of your...intelligence," cognitive abilities such as comprehension and math skills correlate strongly with IQ, a measurable facet of individuality which is not evenly distributed across racial subgroups in the United States.
Whether you chalk it up to nature or nurture, the pattern of average test scores between American demographic groups emerges among standardized tests like IQ, or college admission tests including the SAT, LSAT, and MCAT; with the Black Americans tending to collectively receive the lowest average scores, compared to Hispanic Americans, then White Americans, and finally Asian Americans with the highest average scores.
The smaller data set of students in the Durham Public Schools does not reflect this pattern in it's entirety, but it nonetheless highlights the existence of vast racial disparities. According to the 2022-2023 data, only 39.5% of black students and 37.4% of Hispanic students met or exceeded proficiency on the district's standardized tests, as compared to 82.7% of white students and 63.3% of Asian students.
Disparate Impact
In spite of whatever scientific and statistical evidence may exist, the Supreme Court made Equality of Outcome the law of the land in the 1971 ruling Griggs v. Duke Power Co., which held that the cognitive ability/IQ and mechanical aptitude tests used by the company known as Duke Energy were unlawfully discriminatory, as they "disparately impacted" black employees and applicants, who were significantly less likely to meet the color-blind standard.
Although the courts have recognized some exceptions for "business necessity", the theory of Disparate Impact has been used in a broad push to eliminate or lower standards across the board, including, recently:
Use of background checks on new hires by the convenience store/gas station chain Sheetz
Use of physical fitness tests and basic competency tests by the Maryland State Police
Color-blind cognitive testing of air traffic controllers by the Federal Aviation Administration
The Solution?
As part of the consent decree, the City of Durham must replace the previous written exam with a "Title VII compliant New Selection Device".
Given that no one has yet to develop a predictively valid cognitive test which does not produce disparate racial results, we can reasonably expect the city to follow the pattern of other organizations accused of Disparate Impact by either eliminating cognitive testing, significantly lowering the standards, or attempting to adjust the results by race à la affirmative action.
The FAA, for instance, in an attempt to increase the number of minority candidates selected by their hiring process, reduced the predictive value of its air traffic controller exam by reweighting it to ensure more applicants passed and introducing a biographical questionnaire which awarded applicants points for items such as their "lowest grade in high school [being] science."
The test-writing industry makes a lot of its money from discrimination lawsuits: Cities get sued for blacks doing a standard deviation worse than whites on the current test, so somebody else gets paid to invent a new test where that won't happen. Repeat ad infinitum.
— Steve Sailer (@Steve_Sailer) October 4, 2024
The Consent Decree
On the same day the complaint was filed in court, the City of Durham and the DOJ announced its resolution: a Consent Decree in which the city agreed to amend the DFD's hiring practices, and offer "individual relief" to black applicants who were rejected due to their low or failing scores on the written test.
The city will supply $980,000 in a reparations fund for these low-scoring black applicants, as well as make sixteen "priority hires" from these applicants.
To qualify for the relief, a claimant must meet the following qualifications:
Black or African-American
Rejected from hiring process due to low or failing score on written exam
Met the minimum qualifications of employment at the time of rejection
The sixteen candidates for the "priority hiring relief" will be credited with retroactive seniority and a hiring bonus of up to $17,749 based on the year disqualified, in addition to the settlement fund.
Fewer "White Male" Firefighters
As a liberal jurisdiction government by Democrats (including it's first ever Democratic Socialist city councilmember), the City of Durham made sure to note its commitment to diversity and "strong focus on hiring people of color and women" in the press release regarding the settlement agreement:
“I am pleased that the DOJ’s comprehensive, four-year review confirmed no intentional discrimination in our hiring practices and that they are now working with us to develop a test that meets Title VII standards,” said Fire Chief Robert J. Zoldos II. “The Durham Fire Department has and will always be dedicated to recruiting, hiring, and retaining well-qualified firefighters who reflect the rich diversity of Durham. Since 2020, we have been very focused on improving our hiring processes and have a strong focus on hiring people of color and women. We are eager to take any steps that will enhance those efforts and appreciate this opportunity to improve our applicant screening to identify a diverse pool of future public servants.”
The city did not specify what measures, exactly, are currently used to achieve this "focus"; nor has it responded to a media inquiry regarding the current or historical demographics of the fire department.
Perhaps it is taking its cue from neighboring Wake County, whose "Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging" department created a "Career in a Year" program (initially started with federal COVID relief funds) with the explicit goal of hiring a more "diverse pool" aka "anything other than a white male", according to the county's fire directory.