Jones v. New York City Human Resources Administration

539 F. Supp. 795
CourtDistrict Court, S.D. New York
DecidedMay 24, 1982
Docket73 Civ. 3815(MEL), 74 Civ. 91(MEL)
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 539 F. Supp. 795 (Jones v. New York City Human Resources Administration) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, S.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jones v. New York City Human Resources Administration, 539 F. Supp. 795 (S.D.N.Y. 1982).

Opinion

LASKER, District Judge.

In 1975 we held that examinations given by defendants in 1972 for the positions of Supervising Human Resources Specialist, Senior Human Resources Specialist, and Human Resources Specialist were unconstitutional. 391 F.Supp. 1064 (S.D.N.Y.1975), aff’d, 528 F.2d 696 (2d Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 825, 97 S.Ct. 80, 50 L.Ed.2d 88 (1976). Pursuant to that finding, defendants were enjoined from utilizing the results of the 1972 examinations in selecting persons for positions in the Human Resources Specialist (HRS) series, and were ordered, inter alia, “to develop lawful nondiscriminatory selection procedures” for filling positions in the HRS series “validated in accordance with the EEOC Guidelines on Employment Selection Procedures, 29 C.F.R. § 1607.1 (1970),” (Final Order and Judgment, May 23, 1975, ¶ 5(b)). The defendants were directed to submit a detailed plan for the development of such selection procedures within thirty days of the final order and judgment, which was entered on May 23, 1975. The defendants did not submit such a plan, nor have they developed validated procedures for filling the positions.

*797 In March, 1980, we authorized the defendants to conduct examinations for the HRS series which had not been validated according to the EEOC Guidelines, provided that the use of eligible lists from the examinations for appointment purposes would be subject to court approval. Plaintiffs consented to the utilization of the resulting eligibility lists provided that, pending determination of this motion for further relief, no adverse action would be taken with respect to class members who failed the examination, class members who passed the examination but whom defendants do not intend to appoint, and class members who did not take the recent examination. According to defendants, the 1980 examinations had no adverse impact on the plaintiff class. Plaintiffs do not contest this assertion.

Plaintiffs now move for further relief and to amend their complaints. With respect to the motion for further relief, the defendants have not objected to much of the relief requested in the motion (including the grant of retroactive seniority) except 1) the administration of a second set of promotional examinations and 2) permission for class members to retain their positions or be granted promotions despite their ranking from the recent set of examinations unless the defendants can demonstrate that they have performed unsatisfactorily in their provisional positions.

I.

Plaintiffs contend that a second set of promotional examinations is necessary to ensure that they are made as nearly whole as is currently possible. They emphasize that, due to the illegal examination in 1972 and defendants’ failure to comply with the injunctive portions of our 1975 order, some class members have served in provisional status for many years and others have even been promoted provisionally. The recent examinations afford only partial relief, plaintiffs contend, because they still may be deprived of opportunities to obtain permanent appointment to the positions in which they are in fact working. For example, as a result of the illegality of the 1972 examination, a class member performing satisfactorily for several years in provisional appointments to Senior and Supervising HRS positions may never have obtained a permanent entry level appointment as an HRS. Such a person was not permitted to take the 1980 examination for Senior or Supervising HRS, but instead had to take the examination for the entry-level HRS position. Plaintiffs concede that there is no way to reconstruct with precision the positions that each individual class member might have held if the 1972 examination had met constitutional standards, but argue that it is reasonable to assume that, in the absence of discrimination, class members would have attained permanent appointments to the job titles in which they have been serving provisionally.

Defendants respond that the recent nondiscriminatory examinations together with the grant of retroactive seniority place the plaintiffs in substantially the same position they would have held had the 1972 examinations not been discriminatory. Defendants argue that, in light of the City of New York’s intervening fiscal crisis, there is no basis for assuming that, had the earlier examinations been valid, new examinations would have been administered since then to permit promotion to higher permanent appointments. Defendants note that other City agencies, including the Police Department, the Transit Police Department, and the Department of Correction, have been without promotional examinations since 1973.

We find the defendants’ position on the issue of the administration of a second set of promotional examinations persuasive. While it is unfortunate that defendants’ employees are performing jobs for which they have been unable to obtain permanent status because of a lack of opportunity to take an applicable promotional examination, plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate that this circumstance is causally related to the unconstitutionality of the 1972 examinations. Had the 1972 tests not been discriminatory, plaintiffs would have taken *798 the examination and been selected or rejected only for the position for which they were then eligible. At the present time, those who passed would have a permanent appointment to that position as well as whatever seniority they would have accrued in the interim. This is the same position in which the plaintiffs stand as the result of whatever selection procedure is now instituted, together with the grant of retroactive seniority. Plaintiffs, in short, have not demonstrated that promotional examinations for the HRS series would have been given since 1972 but for the invalidation of the 1972 examinations.

II.

Plaintiffs next contend that they ought not be adversely affected by the recent set of examinations because those examinations have not been validated as required by our 1975 order. According to the plaintiffs, they believed throughout their negotiations with the defendants that the 1980 examinations would give great emphasis to work experience and would in all probability result in the permanent appointment of virtually all class members to the job titles they then held provisionally. Plaintiffs’ motion for further relief thus sought judicial review of the status, plaintiffs believed, of the very few class members who may not be permanently appointed pursuant to the 1980 examinations. However, the results of the examinations have not matched their expectations. Specifically, while all class members who took the 1980 open competitive examination for entry-level HRS passed and were placed on the eligible list, defendants have appointed only 510 out of the approximately 1,600 candidates who took and passed the examination and propose to make 13 additional appointments according to the ranking from the examination, which would result in the termination of 13 class members who fall below the ranking on the eligible list, and who have been serving provisionally.

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Bluebook (online)
539 F. Supp. 795, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jones-v-new-york-city-human-resources-administration-nysd-1982.