New Haven firefighters seek payment for test supplies

Firefighters seek payment for test supplies

William Kaempffer , Register Staff

03/26/2004

NEW HAVEN — The fire union wants the city to reimburse firefighters for money they spent preparing for two scuttled promotional tests.

Union officials said members spent hundreds of dollars each to prepare for the examinations, only to have the results later thrown out.

"We would be looking to recoup the expenses that the members of this union incurred," said Firefighter Patrick Egan, the president of fire Local 825. "Look at the price of the books alone. Why should our firefighters be on the hook for that?"

This week, the union began telling members to calculate how much they spent on books, study guides and testing seminars, and provide receipts and a total. Firefighters estimated the books alone cost upward of $500.

In the meantime, Egan said, the union was researching the best way to get the city to pay up.

Contacted this week, city officials said they couldn’t discuss any potential claim against the city because the union hadn’t even broached the subject with them yet.

"I’m not about to respond, nor would I recommend anyone else in the city to respond, to a claim that has not even been submitted," said Thomas Ude Jr., the city’s corporation counsel.

"I did not know that the union has even approached the city on this," said Director of Personnel Tina Burgett, who oversaw the examination process.

Last November and December, more than 100 firefighters took promotional examinations for lieutenant and captain. Last week, the city’s Civil Service Commission effectively threw out the exams when it didn’t certify the results. The tests were thrust under the microscope amid concerns that too few minorities scored well enough for promotion.

City officials had voiced concerns that the test results could violate federal civil rights laws and urged the commission to throw out the results.

If promotions had gone forward, 14 of the 15 people in line for promotion to lieutenant and captain would have been white.

Ude said he didn’t believe it was accurate to blame the city for the testing problems.

"I would not agree that it was the city’s fault,’ certainly not exclusively," Ude said.

Egan placed blame squarely on Burgett.

"Tina Burgett is in charge of testing. Tina Burgett approved the books. Tina Burgett approved the testing company. Tina Burgett is in charge of overseeing the testing process," Egan said.

Egan maintains it is only fair that the city reimburse the firefighters for their expenses, since Burgett, Ude and other officials pressed the commission to throw out the tests.

Burgett said she didn’t want to get into a public exchange with the union. Rather, she said, it’s important to move forward to ensure this never happens again.

"I think it’s very unfortunate. I think the real task in front us is to ensure the city never goes through this type of process again," she said. "I think it’s crucially important that the city rebuild bridges.

Everyone I know is committed to moving forward in a positive way and do everything we can to make sure this doesn’t happen again."

There are no immediate plans to administer new examinations in the Fire Department.

William Kaempffer can be reached at wkaempffer@nhregister.com, or 789-5727.