Dual lists surprise Akron official

The assistant law director said the process would violate the 14th Amendment.
YOUNGSTOWN -- A civil service exam is designed to pick the most qualified candidates -- black, white, Hispanic, Asian, "whatever" -- says Patricia Ambrose-Rubright, Akron assistant law director.
Every community would like to find a process that would not have an adverse impact on minorities, but a civil service test can't undo societal issues, she said. For each job opening, the top three scorers on Akron's eligibility list compete, she said.
Not so in Youngstown, which submitted a white-men only list and a second minority list for police hirings. The process is the subject of a reverse-discrimination lawsuit filed on behalf of a former white city police officer who scored high but was bypassed for a black woman who scored low.
Youngstown attorney Dennis Haines, who filed the lawsuit, calls the hiring of the black woman "the most blatant case of favoritism" he's ever seen.
Ambrose-Rubright said she wasn't aware of any community that uses two lists. She was surprised to learn that a woman far down the list was chosen and said the situation would be discouraging for white men.
Spokesmen for Warren and Cleveland could not be reached.
Constitutional issue
Ambrose-Rubright suggested the two-list process would violate the 14th Amendment, which provides equal protection under the law.
The equal-protection clause is not intended to provide equality among individuals or classes but only equal application of the laws. A violation would occur, for example, if a state prohibited an individual from entering into an employment contract because he or she was a member of a particular race.
To facilitate minority hiring before the test for police, Youngstown City Council enacted emergency legislation under section 124.90 of the Ohio Revised Code: The waiver of laws to avoid federally prohibited discrimination.
Haines contends the city had no disparity in regard to selection on the basis of race or some evidence of discriminatory pattern.