Alexander v. Bahou

86 F.R.D. 194, 22 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 585, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10591, 22 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 30,815
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. New York
DecidedMarch 27, 1980
DocketNos. 78-CV-392, 80-CV-53
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 86 F.R.D. 194 (Alexander v. Bahou) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Alexander v. Bahou, 86 F.R.D. 194, 22 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 585, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10591, 22 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 30,815 (N.D.N.Y. 1980).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM — DECISION AND ORDER

Introduction

MUNSON, District Judge.

Following months of intense negotiation, the City of Syracuse and the Department of Justice now petition this court for approval of a consent decree providing a mechanism for the integration of the Syracuse police and fire departments. The parties have [196]*196presented an impressive array of statistics establishing the necessity of affirmative action and have demonstrated that the remedies agreed upon can be implemented in a manner that will not impose an inequitable burden upon white males who may be affected by the decree. Although several comments submitted in response to this motion 1 protest, inter alia, that the decree’s remedial provisions are either inadequate or too extreme, these objections impose no legal or constitutional barrier to its entry. Indeed, with puerile simplicity they ignore the fact that the agreement represents an accommodation of many conflicting interests — not simply those shared by the members of one identifiable group.

HISTORY OF THE CASE

The New York State Civil Service Commission regularly prepares standardized civil service examinations for entry level police officer and firefighter positions.2 These examinations are administered throughout the state and, once graded, the names of successful examinees are listed locally in rank order. The New York Civil Service Law also provides that once such a list of eligible candidates is prepared, police and fire departments must make their appointments from among the three highest scoring candidates whose names appear on the list.3 Failure to make appointments in accordance with this so-called “rule of three” will subject a public official to civil and criminal liability.4

Based upon scores received by candidates taking the Civil Service Commission’s examinations, the list of candidates compiled by Onondaga County’s Commissioner of Personnel uniformly resulted in white males occupying the three highest positions on the list of eligible candidates from which the City was compelled to make its entry level appointments. It is therefore hardly surprising that, of the 461 police officers employed by the City, only 2.2% are black and only 2.2% are women. The statistics for the fire department are even less representative of the community work force as only 1% of the City’s firefighters are black and none are women.

In 1978 Mayor Alexander, Police Chief Thomas Sardino and Fire Chief Thomas Hanlon each recognized that they could not live up to their constitutional oaths of office and correct the racial imbalance in the city’s public safety forces without violating the New York Civil Service Law and exposing themselves to civil and criminal liability. However, unlike many public officials who lack the conviction to resolve a controversial issue before it reaches crisis proportions, these individuals commenced an unprecedented declaratory judgment action in the United States District Court, seeking authorization to deviate from the New York Civil Service Law to the extent necessary to increase minority hiring in the Syracuse police and fire departments. The City’s action (Action # 1) named as defendants: Commissioners Victor S. Bahou, Josephine L. Gambino, and James T. McFarland (constituting the New York State Civil Service Commission) as well as Edward J. Gusty (Commissioner of the Onondaga County Department of Personnel). The complaint set forth the dilemma faced by city officials and requested injunctive relief directing the defendants to prepare and administer new examinations which were both job-related and free of adverse impact. The defendants moved to dismiss the city’s action, arguing that the plaintiffs lacked standing, that the Court lacked subject matter jurisdiction, and that the complaint otherwise [197]*197failed to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. The Court reserved decision on the defendants’ motions to dismiss and, while the case was under advisement, the United States Department of Justice began its own investigation. Shortly thereafter, settlement discussions among all of the parties ensued, and in the summer of 1979, the Court agreed to withhold its decision on the motions to dismiss in Action # 1 pending the outcome of these negotiations.

The settlement negotiations followed a tortuous course during the fall of 1979, and after nearly reaching agreement on several occasions, the Department of Justice finally commenced a Title VII action in its own right on January 16, 1980 (Action # 2). This lawsuit named all of the parties in Action # 1 as defendants, including the New York State Municipal Training Council. The operative allegations and the relief requested in Action # 2 is substantially the same as that sought in the City’s original action, to wit: (a) the elimination of qualifications, tests and other selection standards that are not job-related, (b) the promulgation of valid qualifications, tests and other job-related selections standards, (c) the identification and implementation of goals for the hiring of nonwhites and women for positions in the police and fire departments.

The Omnibus Crime Control & Safe Street Act of 1968, 42 U.S.C. § 3766(c)(2)(E), requires the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration to suspend a city’s L.E.A.A. funding forty-five days after the Department of Justice has named it as a defendant in a Title VII action. The City’s L.E.A.A. funding would therefore have been suspended on March 3, 1980 unless the suspension had been enjoined. However, because there had been substantial progress in the negotiations following commencement of the Justice Department’s action, the United States agreed to continue the City’s funding for an additional fourteen days.

Unfortunately, the settlement could not be consumated before this extension expired. As a result, the City was forced to request a temporary restraining order to secure the additional time necessary to perfect an agreement. At the same time, the government cross moved for preliminary injunctive relief. The motions were returnable on March 19, 1980 — a day when, at long last, the parties finally reported that they had reached agreement.

TERMS OF THE CONSENT DECREE

The decree begins by identifying the parties and reciting the history of this litigation substantially as it appears above. It then recognizes that the interests of justice would not be served by the delay, expense, and divisiveness which would necessarily result if the actions were forced to trial. The Parties also recognize the desirability of public safety forces that are ethnically, racially, and sexually diverse to the extent that they are truly representative of the community they serve. (IV p. 6) Thus, the decree memorializes the community’s interest in realizing the promise of equal employment opportunity and correcting inequities which, as a nation, we have inherited from our past. To achieve this long overdue objective, the following basic formula has been agreed upon:

A. AFFIRMATIVE ACTION — To attract qualified black and female applicants for entry level police and fire positions, the City has agreed to undertake an extensive multimedia advertising campaign designed to increase public awareness of the pendency of the applicable civil service examinations. This commitment includes advance notice to public high schools, vocational schools, and community organizations.

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86 F.R.D. 194, 22 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 585, 1980 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 10591, 22 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 30,815, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/alexander-v-bahou-nynd-1980.