Consent degree involving hiring of firefighters vacated by federal judge

10/14/2010

The city of Toledo and Advocates For Basic Legal Equality agreed to cease a court order from 1974 that mandated hiring and promotion practices within the city's fire department.

U.S. District Judge David Katz on Wednesday vacated the order.

As a compromise, the city will institutionalize the mandates of the court order in its own civil service requirements and create a citizens committee for firefighter recruitment and outreach, said City Law Director Adam Loukx.

ABLE filed a complaint in July claiming the city was adhering to the 1974 court order. ABLE had asked the U.S. District Court to enforce the court order and stop the city from hiring a new class of firefighters this year.