The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that white firefighters in New Haven were subjected to race discrimination when the city threw out a promotional examination on which they had done well and black firefighters poorly.

“The city rejected the test results solely because the higher scoring candidates were white,” Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote for the majority, adding that the possibility of a lawsuit from minority firefighters was not a lawful justification for the city’s action.

Frank Ricci, left, lead plaintiff in the the “New Haven 20″ firefighter reverse discrimination case speaks to the media outside of Federal Court in New Haven, Conn., Monday June 29, 2009.

“Fear of litigation alone,” Justice Kennedy wrote, “cannot justify an employer’s reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations and qualified for promotions.”

The 5-to-4 ruling, which reversed an appeals court decision joined by Judge Sonia Sotomayor, now a Supreme Court nominee, will have broad impact, lawyers specializing in employment discrimination law said.

Listen to the radio recording (mp3, 64.5MB) of the incident here. Recording courtesy of DCFireFeed.com.

As of this hour nine individuals have been killed and more than 70 injured in a collision between two Washington Metro trains during the afternoon rush hour. This is likely to be the worst disaster in WMATA history. The crash occurred at 5pm on the red line between Takoma Park and Fort Totten stations on an overground stretch of the track. One train rear-ended another.

More details will be reported on soon.

Photo by Pablo Martinez Monsivais/Associated Press

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Photo by Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press

Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images

Bill O’leary-The Washington Post

The primary response to this scene appears to be the District of Columbia Fire Department. According to DC Fire Chief Dennis Rubin, two DC firefighters were injured during the incident.

To listen to the 911 call made from Michael Jackson’s own home on the day he collapsed, click here.
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