Hurricane Sandy, as noted above, gave New Yorkers even more reason to appreciate the dedication and professionalism of the city’s emergency services — especially the FDNY.
What a pity, then, that US District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis continues to do his best (worst?) to undermine what is arguably the world’s finest fire department.
The Brooklyn-based jurist has held the department hostage for years now, declaring — without real evidence — that its relative lack of racial diversity amounts to de facto racial discrimination.
He’s thrown out the results of impeccable city-crafted civil-service-recruiting exams, prevented the filling of whole classes of firefighters for four years, arbitrarily granted back pay to unhired applicants and imposed seniority for current minority FDNY personnel.
Happily, City Hall continues to appeal Garaufis’ decisions while asking that he be removed from the case because of bias.
This month, during a four-day hearing in his courtroom, hundreds of rank-and-file firefighters aired their criticisms of Garaufis’ edicts.
They shared legitimate concerns that the de facto racial-quota system that Garaufis is trying to force down the city’s throat isn’t just unfair, but outright dangerous both to the public and to other firefighters whose lives depend on their colleagues being able to do the job.
Last Friday, Garaufis declared that such concerns are actually more evidence of a discriminatory FDNY, writing: “An institution’s desire to maintain its traditions is not an acceptable defense to claims of employment discrimination. In fact, it is precisely the problem . . .
“These comments reinforce the court’s concern that some personnel within the FDNY will resist or refuse to comply with the specific terms and spirit of the relief orders.”
But maintenance of tradition has nothing to do with it. The protests were about the judge’s willful efforts to dismantle standards proven over to time to protect not only firefighters, but all New Yorkers, too.
Keep in mind that no proof of discrimination exists — because there has been no discrimination.
Garaufis’ latest ruling demonstrates that the city is exactly right in seeking to have him removed from the case. He’s hopelessly biased against the FDNY and can’t be trusted to rule fairly in this case.
Garaufis needs to go. Period.