Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Hollie Gallagher has filed an order against the city of Cleveland, the director of public safety and civil service commission, saying the entities must conduct “competitive examinations and make promotions within the fire department,” she ruled Tuesday.
The order mandates the city administer these within six months, court documents say.
The issue has been in litigation for five years and has been through three court of appeals reversals, the Cleveland Fire Union announced Saturday in a news release.
Gallagher ruled that “the firefighters, since the vacancies first occurred in 2014, ‘possess a clear legal right to have all current vacancies in the assistant chief and battalion chief ranks filled by competitive exam,'” the release says.
The city has “a legal duty to administer competitive exam to fill all current vacancies," the release said.