It was never really a question of if, but when.

And yesterday, the United States District Court in Connecticut made final what had long been anticipated in the Ricci v. DeStefano case — the promotions of various firefighters to the positions of Lieutenant and Captain.  You can download the order here.

In doing so, the Court also ordered the City to certify the results of the promotional exam. Specifically:

The New Haven Civil Service Board shall certify the results of the 2003 promotional examinations for the positions of Lieutenant and Captain in the New Haven Fire Department, and shall certify the promotional lists for each position derived from these examination results.

The New Haven Independent has a full report on the order as well as feedback from each of the parties to the lawsuit.  The New Haven Register’s report is here. 

Earlier this month, a group of black firefighters moved to intervene in the lawsuit. The court has yet to rule on that motion, but the court’s entry of judgment certainly indicates that the judge did not view that motion as warranting any delay in the proceedings.

As noted before, the parties will still brief two additional issues for the court’s review: (a) the scope and nature of damages to which Plaintiffs are entitled under Title VII, and (b) whether any counts remain for liability adjudication.  The briefing of these issues will be completed in early January 2010.