Please take a moment to read Jack Cashill’s excellent article on the Sgt. Dakota Meyer issue and the great analogy he makes to a similar situation for a football player.
He also brings in the recent DoJ reversal of its OWN earlier positions on the Dayton FD case!
It’s a very informative and well-written article found at: http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=349665
Sgt. Dakota Meyer, the most recent Medal of Honor recipient will not submit an application to take the upcoming FDNY firefighter exam. While he appreciates the offer from the court to accept his - and only his - application, it is the ‘one-person’ exception just for him that Sgt. Meyer always maintained he would not take advantage of. He remains committed to his principled belief that he should not be given any special treatment above and beyond anyone else. Midnight on September 27, 2011 was the deadline for him to file his application.
This week, through his lawyer, Keith Sullivan of Sullivan & Galleshaw, LLP, Sgt. Meyer sought a brief re-opening of the application filing period. This would have allowed Sgt. Meyer to submit an application. However, he requested that whatever time frame he was to be given to file should also be open to the public.
Federal Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis appeared open to granting the request and issued an order asking the City to identify how it would implement it and comply with his prior orders that recruitment efforts needed to target minority communities. The City had spent weeks doing just that but in response advised the court they would undertake no recruitment effort beyond updating their website with the new information As per the court order, this could have a disparate impact on minorities and thus was unsatisfactory to the court and not in compliance with prior orders. Therefore, he denied the re-opening request for all, but said that he would be willing to accept just Sgt. Meyer’s application.
Within minutes of the decision being rendered Monday, attorney Keith Sullivan advised the City that Sgt. Meyer was unwilling to compromise his values and take the one-person exception. The City Law Department was unable to discuss the matter with Sullivan on Monday when he contacted them to discuss methods in which the City could satisfy the Courts order. Tuesday morning he advised the City Law Department that his client’s position had not changed and requested that they fully comply with the Court directives as failing to do so would result in a lost opportunity for Sgt. Meyer. During a mid-afternoon phone conversation with the City Law Department, Sullivan was advised in no uncertain terms that the City would make no further effort to grant the relief sought by Sgt. Meyer. Sullivan implored the City Law Department to go back to the judge with a suitable strategy as their first offer to the Court was not in accordance with the Courts prior rulings and they should have known it would have been unacceptable to the court. They refused to do so.
“It is very embarrassing that the City made - at its best - a half-hearted effort on behalf of Dakota Meyer. The City made it perfectly clear that additional applications would be too burdensome for them to process. I am actually ashamed for them. If Dakota took the path of least resistance in Afghanistan the way the City did on this issue, he would not be a Medal of Honor recipient and there would be 36 more dead soldiers.” said his lawyer Keith Sullivan.
Upon hearing the disappointing news, Sgt. Meyer remained steadfast that he did not wish to be given special treatment and respectfully declined the offer. He said “Unless the filing period is open to everyone, I cannot morally accept it. I got to where I am in life by sticking to my core values and principles, I’m not about to change. I am very disappointed that I missed the deadline by only 12 hours, but I accept full responsibility for that. I want to thank Merit Matters and Keith Sullivan for all of the time and effort they put in on my behalf. I am appreciative for all of the support I received from the people in New York City. I will return in 4 years to take the next test and hopefully one day serve the people of that fine city as a firefighter,” said Dakota Meyer.
Last week when it became readily apparent that no one in authority or leadership capacity throughout the City was willing to take up the cause of Sgt. Meyer, his FDNY Marine friends turned to FDNY Deputy Chief Paul Mannix, the founder of Merit Matters for help. Mannix immediately committed to working towards a resolution. Merit Matters is an advocacy group dedicated to preserving merit in the FDNY testing, hiring and promotional process by ensuring high meaningful standards are applied equally and are blind to race, gender or ethnicity.
“We had written in our original Press Release that there was no excuse – none - for not doing everything possible to grant Sgt. Meyer's request but we underestimated the capacity of some in city government for sloth and apathy. Where there's a will there's a way and while the will was there for an extension and accompanying recruitment effort last weekend, that will somehow dissolved for this Marine. How often in life do you get to even meet a Medal of Honor recipient, much less have the opportunity to show him how much you appreciate what he's done? What could possibly have been more important than doing whatever it took - and it didn't take a lot, which is the real shame that will always be carried by those who couldn't be bothered- to make this happen?”, said Paul Mannix.
“I do want to thank all who answered our call to help Sgt. Meyer. If you wonder if it was worth it, considering the way things ended, remember that you helped a man that is not only to be admired for his actions in battle but for his principled, unwavering (and some tried to get him to waver) commitment to his promise, a commitment that is coming at great personal expense to him. All he wants to do is become a NYC firefighter and the opportunity was right in front of him but he passed it up because of his convictions. I can't say that I'm surprised,” Mannix added.
Sgt. Dakota Meyer will make no further comments on this matter.
Contacts:
Paul D. Mannix
President of Merit Matters
(516) 848-9847
http://meritmattersusa.blogspot.com/
Keith M. Sullivan, Esq.
Sullivan & Galleshaw, LLP
(718) 755-9432
www.SullivanGalleshaw.com
What’s the Difference Between Offers of Help and a Threat?
In the midst of our efforts to assist a very deserving Marine get a chance at earning a spot as a firefighter we are forced to issue this Release to address a mischaracterization in The Chief-Leader newspaper dated September 30, 2011 which hit newsstands today (SEE: Article Below). To those who don’t know the answer to the above question, consider this: this Release is intended to help understand an issue by providing relevant facts and answering questions.
My phone calls to the chambers of Judge Nicholas Garaufis were intended to help understand an issue by providing relevant facts and answering questions - but they resulted in a visit to my house by Federal Marshals to determine whether I was a threat. If the US Marshals Service intends to stop by again in response to this offer of help be advised: I haven’t moved.
As stated above and in The Chief I did, indeed, phone the judge’s chambers. As someone who even my detractors must admit has paid close attention to the issue of FDNY minority recruitment, I believed I could help the judge obtain all the facts possible as well as a perspective on the issue that he may not have been aware of. Being someone inclined to respect authority I naturally assumed my offer would be welcome, and in fact it was. The judge’s clerk, Joe Racappa, was friendly and receptive to me and my offers every time I spoke to him and when he did not answer the phone I would leave a message with my name, number etc. At no time during the six month span we communicated (during which I averaged one call a month - and yes, I have them documented) did Mr. Racappa advise me that I should not be calling.
The last call I made to Mr. Racappa was October 1, 2009. I left a message regarding a ruling in the Lewis v. Chicago Supreme Court case as it is similar to the New York case. I then called the NYC Law Department with the same message. A few minutes after the first call I again called the Law Department to relay one further point and spoke to an attorney named William Fraenkel.
Mr. Fraenkel advised me that Mr. Racappa had called the Law Department to let them know I called but that he would not be calling back.
At this point Mr. Fraenkel advised me that it was not proper for me to be calling the judge’s chamber. My reaction was surprise since, as I explained to Mr. Fraenkel, I had spoken with Mr. Racappa on a few of the calls but had never - not once - been told by Mr. Racappa that my contacts were improper and, as a layman when it comes to legal matters, had no way of knowing my contacts were improper, especially since I had been communicating with Mr. Racappa for a number of months. Mr. Fraenkel advised me that, nevertheless, I should refrain from contacting the judge again. I of course agreed to comply and that was that.
Or so I thought. Imagine my surprise when, a scant two weeks later, Marshals Peter Lee and Pat Quinn appeared at my door. When I was notified of the reason for their visit I was astounded, incredulous, infuriated and invigorated - all at the same time. I invited the Marshals in, assured them I knew they were only doing their job as I had been a cop (and they seemed a little uncomfortable), had coffee with them and my wife and advised them to tell their superiors that if this visit was an attempt to intimidate me into silence it was not going to work (as I believe has become clear in the intervening two years). I also provided them with a copy of a letter of mine that was published that month in The Chief and a copy of the Merit Matters Mission Statement to bring back to the office.
At this point I would ask Chief Deputy Timothy Hogan of the Marshals Service to weigh in on whether the circumstances described above reflect “someone calling persistently in what might be considered an ‘inappropriate’ manner”. I obviously do not think they do, but then I am far from an impartial observer and could, in fact, be lying. Let’s pull the phone records.
Sarcasm aside, I did contact my Union lawyers and regret now that I followed their advice about not filing a complaint over this matter. My overriding concern at the time was that, because I had only formed Merit Matters the month before this visit occurred, it would be used to discredit and marginalize me and the group - that same concern explains the rapid appearance of this Release in response to this issue of The Chief. I did not make “one too many phone calls”; my mistake was assuming I was dealing with honorable people.
* When a Vulcan leader stated that I was a dangerous bigot I challenged him to make a formal complaint against me - to put up or shut up. He shut up.
* When I was notified that retaliation was forthcoming from the FDNY because of one of my letters, I reminded them that everything written in that letter was the truth and that the end result of their course of action would probably be money in my pocket- and the planned retaliation was cancelled.
When an FDNY civilian employee recently threatened legal action against us because of a post on our website we notified him the post stays - give it your best shot. We have not heard back from him in months now.
* When we were lied about in the Village Voice website we contacted the Vulcan Society lawyer who was quoted stating the lie and he, graciously, forwarded us a letter on his firm’s letterhead stating that he attempted to contact the writer numerous times to correct the record with no success. He included in his letter a statement that he never made the false statement attributed to him and we are grateful to him for his attention to this matter.
My reason for including the previous paragraph is threefold: to encourage others who are attacked not to knuckle under; to illustrate that we will not be deterred from standing up for standards, equal treatment for all and the FDNY; and to let present and future opponents know that there are no shrinking violets in the Merit Matters garden.
If I am blunt when making statements about the Vulcan leaders, their positions and the lawsuit, consider this: bluntness in the face of some of the most ridiculous, reckless and dangerous arguments ever made in support of a position is no vice (apologies to Barry Goldwater).
Paul Mannix
President, Merit Matters
The Past Never Dies In FDNY's Racial Saga
By RICHARD STEIER
Monday, September 26th, 2011
The Chief/Civil Service Leader
There are some striking similarities between Paul Washington and Paul Mannix despite their being polar opposites in the Fire Department exam-discrimination case playing out in Federal Court in Brooklyn: Captain Washington, at 49, is a year older than Deputy Chief Mannix, they each played on the department’s football team, and both have been firefighters for 23 years and see the job as a pathway to a better life for themselves and their families.
In virtually all other respects, the differences in perception between the two men are as stark as black and white, and their views are very much shaped—if not colored—by race.
Mr. Mannix maintains that the FDNY Vulcan Society of black firefighters is trying to use the court system to take merit out of the hiring process by falsely claiming that the past three exams for Firefighter have been tainted by racism. Mr. Washington, a former president of the Vulcans, contends that top FDNY officials have used the civil-service testing process as cover for continued resistance to meaningful integration of the firefighting ranks, and says that it is only because of the pressure his group has exerted in both the courts and the media that significant change may be ushered in by a new exam to be given early next year.
Pouring Gasoline on the Bonfire
Chief Mannix’s advocacy — which he says resulted in a visit from Federal Marshals two years ago after one too many calls to the chambers of U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis asking that he be allowed to testify in the case—has sometimes made his superiors in the Fire Department cringe. It is not that his sentiments are terribly different from the legal arguments mustered by city lawyers in the case. Nor are they at odds with Mayor Bloomberg rejecting five possible solutions proposed by Judge Garaufis last year in the wake of his finding that the 1999 and 2002 exams were discriminatory and that the 2007 test, while not as flawed, should be disallowed because it had a disparate impact on minority candidates. Rather, top officials are concerned that Mr. Mannix’s blunt statements about the issues involved throw gasoline onto the bonfire created by the case.
He in turn contends that his tough words are a necessary corrective for what he claims are outlandish charges by the Vulcans that city officials have allowed to go unchallenged, characterizing their positions as “strident advocacy on one side and moral cowardice on the other.”
During a lengthy interview last week, Chief Mannix, asked whether there had been racism in the past in the Fire Department, replied, “Absolutely. I don’t deny that there was racism; I don’t deny that there is racism now. But the Fire Department has worked to integrate the job. The City of New York has bent over backwards to bring in blacks, and women, too, in the Fire Department.”
Earlier in the day, Captain Washington, sitting in the Vulcans’ headquarters in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights section, said that while overt racism within the FDNY had “receded” over the past two decades, “It’s the institutional racism that still holds blacks back, in this country and on this job.” Meaningful efforts by the FDNY to recruit black candidates for the job, he said, did not begin until prior to the 2007 exam, after the Vulcans had convinced the U.S. Justice Department to file a civil-rights case against the city. The fact that the Fire Department has bragged about how much more extensive its recruitment efforts have been for the upcoming exam than for the one four years ago, he said, indicates that even that earlier effort rated no more than a “6” on a scale of 1 to 10.
“Before that,” he said, “it was a 1 or 2; it was pitiful.”
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