30 black firefighters file discrimination lawsuit against DC’s Rubin & two assistant chiefs. Claim bias in discipline & promotion.

” You put that into play with cronyism and this department has a big problem on its hands”.

Like Rubin saying in PUBLIC that a Firefighter is on ENFORCED LEAVE when the fact is said Firefighter is not only working his regular hours; but maybe overtime also.

Same as hiring Rubin……..does not have a clue as to how to manage a budget!

law suits can be filed by any body let the facts speak for themselves,lets see what the courts find,untill that time do not play into the hands of bigots ,act like the honorable public safety employees that you are

a concerned citizen.

im an officer in this dept and i dont have to point out the inequities when it comes to discipline, its already been stated in this forum.Look around just about all the white firefighters who are connected with their relatives at the top are all assigned at”prime firehouses”. And why are there shifts at certain fire houses 90% white or black.I thought the percentage of white to black was closer than 90%. Its not by mistake that engine 11 looks the way it does Umh Umh! I have a three point solution to some of the ills on this department.
1. First I think the new chief should bust up these firehouses and make them reflect the population of the dept, if you dont like it leave.
2. Second the discipline process should be streamline,example you commit violation “A” your punishment should be penalty “B” NO VARIATIONS YOU GET MY DRIFT.
3. Third the chief should appoint an outside panel to investigate the disciplininary process, to make sure the guide lines in point (2) are being carried out in its entirety.Hopefully in the next adminstration your last name wont mean anything. If you happen to be caught wrong you are to be burned at the stake not necessarrily fired but held to the letter of the policy of the dept. X-RAY OUT.

Well we have already succeeded in the civilian deaths!!! How many people have the squads missed in the past few years. Yeah I guess you studied real hard for that!! Or I know let’s blame a building that had fire on 4 floors upon arrival of the first unit on a female Capt. Let’s say she didn’t check the basement and say that’s the reason!! Yeah I remeber seeing that in the book. But on a fire where the 2nd due engine failed to post and the basement burned for 20 min without a line in the basement we will do absolutely nothing to that officer!! Hmmmm yup sound like everything is ok to me!!!

They both should have been punished, but only she was. I think that’s what the problem is! It has to be done evenly. Neither one of them made it to the basement.

Hey, got an idea. Im gonna SUE my high school for not preparing me 20 yrs. ago on test taking skills,how to study, and how to pick multiple choice answers . WHO’S WITH ME?

2010 Promotional Examination: The Problem With The Exam Is The List Standings Are Totally Screwed-Up And WRONG! It Has Nothing To Do With RACE Or I/O SOLUTIONS! I/O Solutions Administered Exams For Several Hundered Employee’s Of The District Of Columbia Fire And EMS Department In A Secure And Controlled Atmosphere. The Written Examiniation Scores Are Totally Correct. Those Who Studied Should Be Commended For Their Performance On The Exam. However, The Problem With The Exam Begins With The Points For Education And Seniority Committee Once Those Written Examination And Assessment Scores Are Given To The DCFEMS From I/O Solutions (Industrial Organizational Solutions). There Are Known Errors That Have Been Brought To The Attention Of The Committee By Members Of Local 36. Some Errors Have Been Fixed And Some Have Not Been Fixed. I Took The Exam This Year And I Did Very Good On The Written. I Recieved A Decent Ranking On The List…But It Is WRONG! Im Ranked Quite Lower Than Where I Should Be Numerically. The Problem Is That There Are Several Individuals Who Did SIGNIFIGANTLY Lower On The Written Exam Than My Score, They Also Have Less Time On The Job And Less Education Points Than I Have! Sure, We Don’t Know The Assessment Center Scores Yet…Even If I Totally Bombed That Portion Of The Process, There Is NO WAY People With Signifigantly Lower Scores On the Written, Less Time In Senority And Less Education Should Be Ahead Of Me On This List…It’s Numerically Impossible! That’s Why It’s WRONG! There Were Mistakes Made By The Exam Committee And They Need To Be Re-Adjusted So The List Is Correct And fair! Unfortunately, The Only Way That We Will All Ever Know If The Promotion List’s Are Correct…ALL The Candidates COMPLETE SCORES And TOTAL POINTS Must Be Published For ALL To View! This Will Defuse The Issue And Get Things Moving In The Right Direction! Im Sure People Are Frustrated With All That Has Happened Recently…I Am Also! The Only Way To Get This Resolved Is To Have The Courts Order The Department To Produce The List! Have Attorney’s Battle To Get Things Adjusted Properly…It Sucks Either Way! But FAIR Is FAIR!

This is not only about the promotional exam. This was initiated first and foremost by those whom feel the disciplinary process is unfair. How is it that more blacks have been terminated from the department than whites, when in fact the racial make up of the department is 52% whites to 46% blacks? How many black firefighters have been fired vs white firefighters? Look at the upper echelon of the department four white firefighters with low education and one white guy with a painted black face. Was these individuals picked because they were the best candidate for the job?

The promotional exam was dumb down in the 90′s anyway. Back then it was unheard of to score a 97% on the exam. So don’t hold your head too high.

I see you guys are ignoring the fact that cheating is rampant when it comes to these fire department promotional exam.

Alot of people lie about their scores anyway.So the guy that says its not fair that a guy with a lower score jumped him or vice versa, thats the nature of the beast.Assesment Interviews are very important i think. Some guys cannot make decisions make huge tactical mistakes, handle personnel issues wrong, and just dont know how to be an officer and it shows when you sit in front of the assesor. Just like paramedics that have to be interviewed now by the medical director. If they mess up then they still have to be “precepted” somemore and then re-interviewed.

Ummmmmmmm to the Anonymous person that wrote it isn’t possible to drop that far at the Assessment Center, I totally disagree. Brother, I am not going to get into arguments, I am not trying to throw anyone under the bus, I just want to point out another way of looking at it. Your written is worth 50% of your overall, and your assessment center is worth the other 50%. If you write a 94 on the written that is worth 47 points in the grand scheme of things. If you only get a 60% on your assessment center that is worth another 30 points. Prior to your education and time in grade, you have ended up with 77 points. Even if you get the full 9 points that puts you at an 86.

So follow me…If I write a 90 on the written that is worth 45 points. If I get a 90 at the assessment center that is worth another 45. So before I even add on Education and Seniority I am above you.

Now please don’t think I am comparing you and I or any two individuals, I just want people out there that don’t know how the process works to understand it a little better. The fact is, the Assessment Center does matter, more than the written I would say. It is not only what you say, or what you decide, but how you present yourself. You have got to sound like you are the best. You have got to be confident, you have got to show that you are a leader. You have to sell yourself to the assessors. Who knows, some people may have done a lot better than others with that. If we all said the exact same things, some of us just may have a little more confidence in the way we said it.

I personally have sat in as an assessor, not for this company or for anything of this magnitude, but I feel that helped me personally when it was my time to go. Is that cheating, no, it is my life experiences that helped to prepare me for it. In the end, I honestly think that I/O Solutions did everything possible to keep this exam fair, and they have been questioned in the past and have always showed that to be true.

As far as the discipline stuff goes, you know, I have seen things that have made me scratch my head too. If it is proven that their is something going on with that, I hope that we can get it fixed. That isn’t right. But to say that a piece of paper, or an exam is fixed or rigged, I personally don’t feel that is true.

My Brothers, I wish everyone the best of luck. I am still of the belief that we will get through it in a positive way. The last thing I think we as a Department need right now is to be racially divided because of things like this. Lets get through it quickly and get back on track.

Be Safe!!!

Dude, especially when most if not all of the money DC get’s comes from every state of the Unnion via taxes and tourism….so their State’s money is feeding you.

Forgive me for being totally honest – the only thing that has changed in this country is the plantation became a corporation and American Fire Departments have historically been racist right along with the American Police Department which are both corporations (do your homework).

Any white who denies that must have something to hide and any black who denies such knows that if they don’t serve the white corporate interests they get fired or have to quite just like David Chapelle.

All whites are not racists and all black do not have slave mentality, however racism is institutional and has become more subtle these days but when people are not sleep, blind and scared they will acknowledge it.

Any one who claims that institutional racism is over is naive or a liar because the same men who where openly racist up until the 1970′s (which was not long ago)are now in powerful seats of government and corporations and have passed down “white right” to their children. No one is racist until the age of 40, 50, or 60 and then becomes “un-racist”. You don’t beat the hell out of generations of a people and suddenly say I don’t hate you anymore and expect them to believe you, especially when you have not demonstrated it by giving their children drugs to die from and then giving them guns and prison to die from.

Its all documented do your homework.

Regardless, whites are no one to fear and blacks are no one to fear, fear is an illusion created to keep us all divided (black, white, brown, yellow, red) so a few can have all the power while we are running a rat race. Think about it.

This was a letter to WSJ “Civil Service Clarity” during the New Haven CT FD law suit. It might be relevant: While I now work in the private sector I spent about ten years with the DC Fire Department. I can tell you that many people are missing the fundamental issue. If you use affirmative action to hire minorities you will end up having carry that process forward continually to insure that minority groups move up the ladder. So many cities have hired outside firms to insure “fair” tests it seems laughable that we are still faced with the same issue after so many years of affirmative action. I understand affirmative action intellectually and from a historical perspective but, it not only creates animosity for those on the job it robs minorities of the respect they deserve when they have successfully competed for entry positions or promotions. I was hired during the Marion Barry (1990’s) years when Congress felt there were not enough “qualified” city candidates, Congress was not wrong in its view. The city hired 50/50 classes with huge academic & skill disparities between the groups. Those deficiencies continued to be prevalent throughout my career. I worked with great people both black and white but left the job because in some part the system was so “out of whack.” Let us not forget that this is our nation’s capitol we are talking about which at the time had a significant fire problem and serous urban problems with violence, poverty and government ineptitude. The promotional process had turned into a joke. Study groups would study every day for a year only to have the city change the performance measures at the last minute or have test information leaked to minorities. What a mess. I hope the Supreme Court can finally put this issue to rest or perhaps we should just take fire protection away from government so it can operate more effectively. Most people forget that independent fire companies at one time protected all of our communities in this country without government involvement or “inspired” social programs. People who really want to be a firefighter, regardless of race or gender, will work hard to become one if the benchmark is clear, straightforward, and unbiased. When your life is in jeopardy you want someone really capable coming to your aid…..really.

uptown firefighter you said some enlighting and informative stuff inregards to the promotional process, i applaud your wisdom.But my fellow F/F’s grip for the most part is not with the written exam, we question whether members were coached and or given insight on what exactly the accessors were looking for.I for one know for sure that I wasnt that sharp on the accessment center in the 2008 exam,but i managed to finish in the middle of the pack.This time around I was confident and felt I had the right answers.I sincerly believe that some members had a leg up and i dont mean from hard work.For sure I would like to see this department improve in the categories of racial division, comraderie,and disparity in discipline.But the truth of the matter is you have some hateful, redneck,country back woods dishonest members among us who dont deserve to be here.All they want to do is jump on the fire truck for a fire call but it turns there stomach to ride the ambulance.I know im getting a lil off beat but that is how i feel and no im not claim that all the members who arent from here are what I describe earlier but theres enough of them here. Hopefully well get there one day

xray,
you are throwing out flat out racist remarks toward members of your department. I cannot even take you seriously as being the victim in any situation, when you yourself are being overtly racist, “But the truth of the matter is you have some hateful, redneck,country back woods dishonest members among us who dont deserve to be here”…. and yet your the one who in the same paragraph says how you wish the department had better race relations/divisions?

Some of the things I’ve read on here have left me scratching my head. I said it before and I’ll say it again, this lawsuit is not aimed at any one particular person or any particular race for that matter. If you are privileged enough to see this lawsuit as it is written and see where you as an individual are personally accused of something, then by all means, speak your mind. This matter was filed in a court of law and that’s where it should play out. Firehouse lawyers, stand down.
I read where blacks play the race card and file lawsuits when “they don’t get their way”. I don’t know how much time you may have on the job, but I remember a few short years ago when a lawsuit was filed based on promotions, or lack thereof and a lawsuit was filed and argued in a court of law and it was not file by blacks. I don’t recall this type of uproar then, but instead guys standing together in hopes of “fairness”. How soon we forget.
Now, for argument sake, let’s just say there was an individual or individuals that worked for/consulted for/had knowledge of how our outside company conducts its assessments. Not saying they did, but should they be allowed to give “assistance” to individuals that were in the testing process? I would think such “assistance” would amount to a conflict of interest. Not saying that it happened, but what if? What if an individual was sequestered as an SME and was not allowed to have contact with any member or members of the department and was in the same place, at the same time with said members, without appropriate permission? As I asked before, do questions not arise? Again, not accusing anyone of any wrong-doing or otherwise, but I would hate to think that all the time and effort that I put in, as well as the time and effort put in by others, was in vain because a few individuals did not want to do the same.
My solution: If an outside company is contracted to administer two exams and both exams are “supposed” to be the same, then they should be. There were differences between this exam and the 08 exam and if changes were made, why and who authorized such changes? Also, what is said in the assessment room between an individual and the two assessors is sometimes “subjectable”. Afterall, suppose an individual says something that wasn’t heard or overlooked? Can you imagine being the last person after the assessors have sat and listened to the same thing all day? It probably sounds like “blah, blah, blah, blah, blah”. Then again, some of us sound like that anyway. To eliminate this and quell any discrepancies should they arise, I suggest that the interviews be taped. This way, they can be reviewed, watched at the assessor’s leisure, so to speak and retained for “evidence” so we can avoid the days of “hit the hydrant”. Many departments across the country have already adopted this method, so it’s not unheard of. A lot to digest, I know, but if we say we want things to be fair, prove it.

@FD….How about taking your fingers out of your A** and put them on the keyboard so you can make some sense…Coming to work and doing the right thing and not having to worry about the disciplinary process is fitting if your the son of an ex AFC and your on your 2 DUI and you get a slap on the wrist, while the others get the high hard shaft up their side c…..WHAT!!!!

No we need hookman whoever he is,

Keep up the good work hook telling it like it is.Yeah you can come the work and do everything right,we can all fall short.And what makes the difference between a member on charges getting a bad rep vs a so called member with a clean record is simple. Its the company OFFICER!!!,and the AFC-OPS.If your company officer is looking out for you and covers up evidence you dont get put on charges boys and girls.But wait it gets better, if you happen to be unlucky and be placed on charges and it get sent up to uncle shultz,well he can just make it go away if your one of the chosen ones.Okay lets asy your not the pick of the litter or related to someone up the food chain or are neighbors to the upper echelon. Than thats your A@@.period.So FD thats some bull your talking about doing what your told and youll be trouble free.Its not what you do its who sees it and what they plan to do about it.

X-cluedid

You clearly have no idea what it means to come to work and do the right thing. I’ve never needed a company officer, or anyone that could possibly control my destiny through a disciplinary process, cover anything up for me. Nor would I have any respect for an officer that would do that. I think it’s time for those that choose to place themselves in the web of the disciplinary process to take responsbility for their actions. I can remember growing up and getting reprimanded for something that my brother had done when he was that same age. It always seemed that I got the shorter end of the punishment stick. I learned early on that sometimes life just isn’t fair. I also learned that there are consequences to one’s actions. Thanks mom.

xRAY, yOU SCAre me to think you are an officer!! Like I said before I think you are the fool you are. The only change that should come is to get rid of people like you who run their mouth all the time and want something for nothing. You’re right change is coming and you better cover your ass because they do not need loud mouths who do not know what they are talking about!!!