This page uses extracted PDF text. Text can misread numbers, dates or table columns. Check the PDF before quoting or interpreting it. Redacted areas remain redacted.
factors that the Department considers relevant, such as interview per-
formance, years in fire service, Fire Lieutenant tenure, disciplinary
record, overall job performance, and use of leave time. Once each
interviewer has ranked the applicants, the three-member panel meets
to discuss them. The Fire Chief makes all final decisions. Hux raises
challenges to three promotional processes: December 2002, Septem-
ber 2003, and January 2004.
A.
In December 2002, the Fire Department interviewed seventeen
candidates for six Fire Captain vacancies, and selected six men. Every
member of the three-person interviewing panel ranked each of the six
successful male candidates above Hux. Of those six, all had at least
eighteen years of fire service experience, and one, in fact, had twenty-
nine years of experience. Hux, by contrast, had worked in fire service
for only seven years. While it is not incumbent on employers to adopt
a promotion scheme based on seniority, it is certainly permissible for
them to take seniority and experience into account. In addition to fire
service experience, five of the six successful candidates had served as
Fire Lieutenants for at least five years, including one who had served
as a Lieutenant for thirteen years. By this point, Hux had only served
as a Fire Lieutenant for approximately three years. The one successful
candidate who had a slightly shorter Lieutenant tenure than Hux had
other qualifications that she did not possess, including more fire ser-
vice experience, superior employment evaluations, and minimal use
of leave time. Fire Chief Jones ranked him the top candidate, whereas
the highest any interviewer ranked Hux was fourteenth.
The Department also expressed concern that Hux did not possess
the ideal personality traits for a Fire Captain. Fire Chief Jones indi-
cated that Hux "had problems exercising leadership" and was not pro-
moted because "of her need to improve her interpersonal
communication skills." In addition, Hux became emotional towards
the end of her interview. As she explains, "her voice cracked and tears
welled up in her eyes." This was important to the interviewing panel,
which worried that Hux might not possess the composure required to
coordinate a team charged with protecting lives and property under
highly stressful situations.
7HUX v. CITY OF NEWPORT NEWSJump to an indexed page (12 of 12)