The City of Buffalo will pay a total of $1.2 million to a dozen white Buffalo firefighters who claimed they were passed over for promotion because of their race. The $1.2 million settlement was approved Tuesday by the Buffalo Common Council and brings to a close a 2007 lawsuit that accused the city of illegally allowing two promotional lists to expire because minority firefighters had performed poorly on civil service exams. The 12 Buffalo firefighters alleged that if the promotional lists had not been allowed to expire and instead had been extended – as had been historical practice – they would have received promotions within the fire department, according to papers filed by the city’s law department with the Clerk’s Office. In 2007, former State Supreme Court Justice John A. Michalek ruled the city illegally passed over the 12 firefighters for promotions because of their race.