Jury sides with white fire captains in Mobile, AL discrimination suit

A federal jury has awarded four white fire captains in Mobile $135,000 each in a discrimination suit over promotions.

The officers in the Mobile Fire-Rescue Department claimed they were passed over for promotion two years ago that went to a black co-worker.

The plaintiffs, Melvin Stringfellow, Stanley Vinson, Kenneth Tillman and Onrie "Diddy" Brown, sued the city last year after they failed to win promotion to district chief.

The promotion instead went to Johnny Morris, a black co-worker with less education, less experience and lower scores on the promotion exams, according to testimony.


http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AL_FIREFIGHTERS_DISCRIMINATION_ALOL-?SITE=VARIT&SECTION=US&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2005-12-10-14-12-04

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This AP story is gleaned from a local newspaper in Mobile, Alabama . . . the original source story authored by the Mobile Register staff reporter Brendan Kirby is here at http://www.al.com/printer/printer.ssf?/base/news/1134209743150590.xml (printer-ready webpage)

This is a "reverse-discrimination" federal lawsuit brought by white Mobile firefighters against the firefighter department of the City of Mobile, Alabama. And the white guys won against the black guys whom the fire chief hired in Affirmation Action to achieve a racially diverse fire department for the City of Mobile.

If you are for racial Affirmative Action to procure and/or sustain diversity, then blame Associate Justice Sandra Day O'Connor who a few years back first authored the SCOTUS precedent-setting case "allowing" racial "reverse-discrimination" in municipal hiring policies. Of course, the obvious question then presents as: if your goal is a diverse firefighting department where the diversity of the community served is represented in the city fire department then why allow "reverse discrimination," since it negates your goal? So much for rationality.

When O'Connor is gone, SCOTUS will get worse, not better. Where is America headed?
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Affirmative Action is a boost to minorities, but it should not compromise the integrity of the system. If the candidates had been anonymous when they applied for Fire Chief of Mobile, AL, the experience scores would have eliminated the less qualified candidate who was offered the job.

If you want a fire response force that is racially diverse, then you give the minority a favored position among EQUALLY QUALIFIED candidates.

To give the Fire Chief job to someone who is less than the best candidate for the job is to endorse a sub-standard fire response team. Why would anyone want this? You don't want the best emergency response team? It has nothing to do with race.

I realize we don't live in a perfect world, and I realize that Alabama has some of the worst racism in the country (I have a lot of family in AL). But, you don't cure discrimination by practicing discrimination. Two wrongs don't make a right. Just like you don't stop terrorism by practicing torture. When you do this, you are just feeding the hatred that must be quelled.

We must BE our ideal so that our example is seen. On an equal playing field with arguably equal candidates, affirmative action is a NECESSITY in Alabama. But, when we promote under-qualified candidates to high and important positions just because they have a certain skin color, we are asking for trouble.