by Sally Goldenberg
The FDNY, which was the subject of a discrimination lawsuit settled earlier this year, plans to spend $530,000 on diversity training as part of a citywide initiative.
The fire agency contract, the details of which are being finalized over the next three or four months, will fund a program run by The Kaleidoscope Group for “diversity and inclusion education services,” according to a recent notice posted in the City Record.
Kaleidoscope, which has done similar work with the Chicago Fire Department, will consult the FDNY staff on how to be culturally sensitive and “respectfully communicate across lines of difference,” an agency spokesman said.
Staff members will also have to commit to “personal action plans to create a respectful and inclusive environment.”
“We want to attract young men and women of diverse backgrounds to become firefighters and this training will help ensure we have a work environment that respects all people and their many talents and backgrounds,” city fire commissioner Daniel Nigro said in an email.
The contract will last between one year and 18 months, the agency spokesman said.
He said it is unrelated to a discrimination suit filed in 2007 by members of the Vulcan Society, which represents minority firefighters. The organization felt the FDNY entrance exam was intentionally discriminatory—something former mayor Michael Bloomberg fought in court.
In March, Mayor Bill de Blasio settled the suit, awarding the society $98 million in backpay and benefits for black and Hispanic FDNY applicants to took the civil service test in 1999 and 2002.
Upon settling the case, de Blasio promised to implement further reforms in the agency’s recruiting policies and diversify the ranks of the force.
The FDNY employs roughly 16,000 people, including firefighters, emergency medical services personnel and civilians. Of that total, 15 percent are minorities, according to statistics provided to Capital by the department.
The emergency medical services workforce has a far higher diversity rate: 58 percent of the roughly 3,700 EMS personnel are minorities. And of the nearly 7,800 entry-level firefighter jobs, 18 percent are held by minorities.
Women make up 26 percent of the EMS workforce, but only half of 1 percent of the firefighting ranks, according to the statistics.
All agency employees will receive the training. The city’s Department of Citywide Administrative Services has used Kaleidoscope for training, the FDNY spokesman added.
Earlier this year, the Daily News reported that the city plans to spend $1.5 million on a diversity program for all municipal employees.
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