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Collado v. City of Albuquerque3/13/2002
The City of Albuquerque appeals from a judgment against it ordering that Plaintiff, a Lieutenant in the Albuquerque Fire Department, be promoted to the rank of Captain and receive retroactive back pay and other benefits. The City argues that the trial court erred in finding that the City breached its employment contract with Plaintiff and awarding equitable relief in the form of retroactive promotion and back pay. We affirm the judgment of the trial court.
BACKGROUND
The City's Merit System Ordinance requires that the selection procedures for hiring, promoting, and discharging of employees must be "valid, fair, sound and free of considerations, such as race, ethnic background, sex, age, political affiliation and/or personal bias." City of Albuquerque Personnel Rules and Regulations § 205. The merit system uses written tests, oral interviews, and performance examinations to determine an employee's eligibility for promotion. Id. § 201. The City's personnel rules provide that "careful and reasonable measures will be taken to insure fair administration of examinations." Id. § 202.1.
In 1993, Plaintiff was one of fifty-one lieutenants who competed for promotion to Captain. The promotion process had two components: a written examination given in July, and an "assessment examination" given a few weeks later. This second component included an oral interview and a performance examination. Only those candidates who received a sufficiently high score on the written examination were eligible for the assessment process. The written test was offered at two different times. Plaintiff attended the first session.
During the first session of the written examination, a power failure caused the lights to go out for approximately three minutes and to flicker a couple of times thereafter. According to the testimony, the power outage resulted in a significant disruption of the testing process. Despite being instructed to stop working on their tests and remain in their seats, not all the candidates obeyed. One candidate reportedly got up from his seat and left the room. Other candidates seated near an open doorway apparently had sufficient light to continue working on their tests. Some of the candidates talked to one another during the blackout. Several candidates, including Plaintiff, testified that these events had an adverse effect on their ability to concentrate during the examination.
After the lighting was restored, the candidates were given an extra five minutes to compensate for the disruption. At the end of the written examination period, one candidate was observed continuing to work on his test for an additional minute or two. Ultimately, that candidate was ranked number one on the promotion list.
The second session of the written examination proceeded without incident. Overall, those candidates were more successful in proceeding to the assessment process. Although 77% of those in the second session scored high enough to become eligible for the assessment process, only 58% of those in the first session performed well enough to qualify. Several candidates complained to the City about the written examination, and recommended that the City reject these results and offer the test again under fairer conditions. The City refused.
The assessment process had its own problems. Security was lax; participants were not monitored between exercises and were able to speak with one another and listen from the hallway during the assessment process. Some candidates allegedly had pre-existing relationships with one or more of the assessors. One exercise required the candidates to describe how they would respond to reports of smoke in
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