U.S. Seeks to End Affirmative Action Hiring Program in Washington’s Fire Department
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WASHINGTON — Justice Department lawyers told a federal judge Saturday that an affirmative action plan established by the District of Columbia “tramples the rights” of the city’s white firefighters.
Going to court for the first time under the Reagan Administration to oppose the use of “racial quotas,” the Justice Department asked U.S. District Judge Charles R. Richey to throw out a hiring and promotion plan for the city’s Fire Department because it is unconstitutional.
“This plan overrides the valid job-related promotion procedures and takes away employment opportunities solely on the basis of color,” said Richard Ugelow, a Justice Department lawyer.
The Administration has joined white firefighters and their union in a legal fight to eliminate a plan that the district contends is needed to remedy discrimination in a Fire Department that was, until 1962, segregated by race.
But Ugelow said that discrimination no longer exists in the department.
Richey has said that until he rules on the challenge, the affirmative action plan is suspended.
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