Boston firefighters sue the state over cancelled promotional exams
The Boston Firefighters Union is suing the state after promotional exams were cancelled abruptly last week.
The Civil Service Commission suspended the exams indefinitely after a judge determined questions on a police promotional exam from between 2007-2008 were discriminatory against minority candidates.
This comes as nearly 1,000 firefighters across Massachusetts were preparing to take a promotional exam later this week.
“The recent Superior Court decision regarding Police Sergeant promotional exams from over a decade ago has no bearing on Firefighter promotional exams,” Boston Firefighters Local 718 said in a statement to Boston 25 News. “As we have maintained from the beginning, Boston Local 718 reiterates that our issue is not with the Civil Service Commission, but rather the hasty and arbitrary decision made by the Human Resources Division (HRD) to indefinitely cancel Firefighter promotional exams.”
The statement went on to explain that fire chiefs rely on the ability to have consistent and strong officers to lead firefighters into daily dangerous situations and to keep their communities safe, and the decision to cancel exams will impact this.
The union filed an injunction in Superior Court, demanding the tests be reinstated immediately.
“The court decision covered the development, format and scoring of the exams, and in these areas, the police and fire exams are very similar even though they cover different subjects,” the Massachusetts Executive Office for Administration and Finance said in a statement to Boston 25 News Monday morning. “In an effort to respect the decision of the court, the Human Resources Division made the decision to cancel the upcoming fire promotional exam and not score all September police promotional exams, while it evaluates next steps.”
The statement explained that the court ruling did not impact entry exams, only promotional exams.
“The HRD is exploring all options moving forward and will work with appointing authorities around short-term options for departmental staffing needs,” the statement said.
Discussions set for Monday between the Civil Service Commission and the Boston firefighters union will explore the logistics for a potential hearing in the near future.
This is a developing story. Stay with Boston 25 News as more information is released.
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