NEW YORK (AP) -- A judge has halted the hiring of more than 300 new firefighters amid the legal dispute over discrimination claims at the Fire Department of New York.
In a written decision yesterday in federal court in Brooklyn, a U.S. District Court judge found an entry exam used by the mostly white fire department was unfair to black and Hispanic applicants. He ordered the city to explain why it wanted to hire new firefighters based on an "invalid test."
Attorneys for the city say they're disappointed by the ruling. They warn it will force the city to pay millions of dollars in overtime to make up for understaffing.
The ruling follows earlier setbacks for the city in the civil rights case. The judge previously found the 11,000-member FDNY deliberately discriminated against minorities and ordered it to revamp its hiring practices.
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