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Black Firefighter Organization Permitted To Visit FDNY Applicants At Home

NEW YORK (AP) -- A court monitor overseeing the New York City Fire Department's efforts to diversify says black firefighters can visit black recruits at home.

The New York Times reports that members of an organization of black firefighters called the Vulcan Society will be given a list of black applicants whose applications are incomplete. The Vulcan members will be able to visit the recruits' homes and encourage them to follow up.

The Vulcan Society sued the city for discrimination in Brooklyn federal court.

The judge found that white recruits are more likely than black recruits to have friends or family members in the Fire Department encouraging them to persevere through the department's long hiring process.

The court will permit the Vulcan Society to make home visits on three weekends in January.

Do you agree with the home visits? Sound off in our comments section below…

(Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)

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