FAA embroiled in lawsuit alleging it turned away 1,000 applicants based on race — that contributed to staffing woes

Always in His Presence · Feb 2, 2025

FAA embroiled in lawsuit alleging it turned away 1,000 applicants based on race — that contributed to staffing woes

The Federal Aviation Administration is fighting a class-action lawsuit alleging it denied 1,000 would-be air traffic controllers jobs because of diversity hiring targets — as it was revealed that staffing levels were “not normal” at the time of this week’s deadly midair collision.

Complaints about the FAA’s hiring policies resurfaced after the American Airlines passenger plane and a Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, killing 67 people in the country’s deadliest aviation disaster in almost a quarter-century.

Details of the litigation re-emerged, too, as Andrew Brigida, the lead plaintiff in the suit filed in 2015, suggested the federal aviation agency’s obsession with diversity hiring and inclusion had only ensured that an accident was likely to happen.

Always in His Presence · Feb 2, 2025

FAA lawsuit claims agency discriminated against air traffic controller applicants on the basis of race

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is being sued in a class action lawsuit alleging it turned away nearly 1,000 air traffic controller applicants, solely based on their race.

Former Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt, who now serves as co-counsel for Mountain States Legal Foundation based in Colorado, is leading efforts for a lawsuit that could set a new precedent and force companies to hire employees based on skills.

Laxalt said the lawsuit represents nearly 1,000 people who went to school to become air traffic controllers, which, for about 20 years until the end of the Obama administration, graduated 100 % of the people who went on to work in their field.

The individuals Laxalt represents passed the normal test right before the Obama administration said the class was too White and threw out the tests with the applicants.

Pommer · Feb 2, 2025

Always in His Presence said:
FAA embroiled in lawsuit alleging it turned away 1,000 applicants based on race — that contributed to staffing woes

The Federal Aviation Administration is fighting a class-action lawsuit alleging it denied 1,000 would-be air traffic controllers jobs because of diversity hiring targets — as it was revealed that staffing levels were “not normal” at the time of this week’s deadly midair collision.

Complaints about the FAA’s hiring policies resurfaced after the American Airlines passenger plane and a Black Hawk helicopter crashed in Washington, DC, on Wednesday, killing 67 people in the country’s deadliest aviation disaster in almost a quarter-century.

Details of the litigation re-emerged, too, as Andrew Brigida, the lead plaintiff in the suit filed in 2015, suggested the federal aviation agency’s obsession with diversity hiring and inclusion had only ensured that an accident was likely to happen.

But how does “they’re hiring the wrong people!” address why there’s a shortage of positions being filled?

Always in His Presence · Feb 2, 2025

Did FAA Reject Air Traffic Controllers Based on Race? What We Know

The original lawsuit was filed on behalf of Andrew Brigida, who claimed the FAA under the Obama administration dropped a skill-based system for hiring air traffic controllers (ATCs) and replaced it with a "biographical assessment," which was allegedly used to attract more minority applicants.

Brigida, who is white and scored 100 percent on his training exam, said he was discriminated against because of his race when his application was rejected.

In January 2014, Brigida received an email informing him that the FAA was "implementing changes to improve and streamline" the hiring process for air traffic controllers and that his application was "impacted" by these changes, according to William Perry Pendley, an attorney and president of the Mountain States Legal Foundation, the firm handling the lawsuit.

The Mountain States Legal Foundation is representing hundreds of people from different racial backgrounds who say they were discriminated against under the FAA's hiring policy.

Always in His Presence · Feb 2, 2025

Pommer said:
But how does “they’re hiring the wrong people!” address why there’s a shortage of positions being filled?

Umm.. let's see - perhaps by turning away 1,000 qualified applicants based on race -

Could you at least please read the title?

iluvatar5150 · Feb 2, 2025

Without defending the policy, I'd point out that it ended at least 9 years ago. There are other, ongoing factors negatively impacting the hiring of air traffic controllers.

Vambram · Feb 2, 2025

iluvatar5150 said:
Without defending the policy, I'd point out that it ended at least 9 years ago. There are other, ongoing factors negatively impacting the hiring of air traffic controllers.

What are those other ongoing factors?

iluvatar5150 · Feb 2, 2025

Vambram said:
What are those other ongoing factors?

From what I've read - training bottlenecks (i.e. there's only one facility and its capacity is limited), insufficient pay for HCOL areas, extremely high stress, and inability to select the location of your duty assignment.

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FAA embroiled in lawsuit alleging it turned away 1,000 applicants based on race — that contributed to staffing woes

Always in His Presence

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