Judge rejects Cobb plan to resolve past discrimination – says solution is biased

A federal judge, U.S. District Judge William Ray, has rejected a deal struck between the U.S. Department of Justice and Cobb County over alleged discriminatory hiring practices at the fire department and Cobb County’s proposed plan to address race bias in its hiring practices, stating that the solution itself would be racially discriminatory.

This case stems from the U.S. Justice Department having sued Cobb County for violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, alleging discriminatory hiring practices from 2016 to 2020. Cobb County reportedly used credit checks and written exams to screen firefighter candidates from 2016 to 2020. A disproportionate number of white firefighters were hired compared to Black candidates.The case against Cobb County revealed that during this time frame, the county received 4,049 applications for firefighter positions, of which 48.8% were from Black applicants. The county hired 225 white firefighters and 61 Black firefighters during this period.

In April of 2024, the county released a statement that any discrimination was unintentional and agreed to a settlement with the federal government to fix hiring practices that had been found to disproportionately disadvantage Black candidates, with the plan offering priority hiring for up to 16 qualified Black applicants and a payout of $750,000 to eligible Black candidates. Cobb County’s refusal to admit guilt was the primary reason the judge rejected the agreement.

According to Judge Ray, Cobb County has not admitted to any racial bias in its hiring process, which contributed to his decision to reject the agreement, as it lacked a strong basis in evidence. Ray said because Cobb County continues to deny that race had any impact on the fire department’s hiring or selection process, there is no “clear showing of ‘strong basis in evidence’ to justify the approval of the relief.” Ray went on to say that this approach could potentially create “intentional discrimination based on race” by giving African American applicants preferential treatment over others, including retroactive seniority and possible promotions that would be unavailable to others hired before them. 

As he shut down the proposed agreement, Ray said, “At the outset, the court notes that the relief proposed by the parties is arguably a form of intentional discrimination based on race — only those claimants who are African American are entitled to seek relief. Further, the proposed relief would allow for disparate treatment because it provides for priority hiring of the affected African American claimants over other applicants, as well as retroactive seniority and possible promotions over other employees who may have been hired before the African American claimants.” 

Ray emphasized that while federal law allows race-based actions to remedy racial bias, Cobb County had denied any wrongdoing, making it difficult to approve the settlement without a sufficient basis for such race-based actions. He also noted that the case was still underdeveloped, as there was no clear evidence that the written exams or credit checks used in hiring were necessary or helpful. Ray said Cobb County has “steadfastly denied that its hiring or selection process had any impermissible disparate impact based on race or that it has violated the law in any way.” 

Judge Ray has refused to approve the plan unless the county admits its past practices were problematic.