THE INFAMOUS RICCI v. DeSTEFANO CASE that was overturned by the U. S. Supreme Court returned to New Haven U.S. District Court Judge Janet Bond Arterton’s courtroom late last week to be brought to a conclusion.  Following the June decision of the U.S. Supreme Court that Frank Ricci and 19 fellow firefighters claimed their rights were violated when the city threw out results of 2003 promotion exams because African-American firefighters performed poorly, there are two more phases of the trial  to be completed.

The New Haven Independent writes:

The first filings are due this Friday on the issue central to the case: Who should be promoted?

No one has been promoted in the six years since the city held exams for captain and lieutenant on the city firefighting force. Fourteen of the New Haven 20 would have been promoted if the city had acted on the test results as was originally planned. Many saw the SCOTUS decision as basically ordering the city to promote off of that list.

A jury trial will determine a stickier issue in the case: How much money is due the firefighters who were denied promotion.

“There’s definitely going to be a trial,” said Karen Torre, attorney for the New Haven 20. Her original suit in 2004 called for compensatory and punitive damages, both of which are determined by jurors.  A jury will decide the amount of damages, she said.

The Independent has a good, thorough explanation of how and why these next procedings are taking place.  Read the full STORY HERE.