FAA lawsuit claims agency discriminated against air traffic controller applicants on the basis of race | Fox Business
On the day of the crash in DC, we may not have seen DEI play a roll in the cockpit, but it certainly played a roll in ATC shortages in towers across America.
"A 2013 FAA document, “Controller Hiring by the Numbers,” raised the issue in stark terms, asking, “How much of a change in job performance is acceptable to achieve what diversity goals?”
When failure is measured in human blood, the answer should have been none."
"Contributing to the shortage, the FAA temporarily put the brakes on hiring in 2012 so it could replace race-blind hiring rules with a “Biographical Assessment” stratagem designed to hire more minorities.
This quiz served as further screening of applicants who had already graduated from a 200-hour training program and achieved high scores on AT-SAT, a grueling, eight-hour cognitive test that measures each of the specific skills needed to do the job properly.
The questionnaire sought irrelevant information such as the “college subject in which I received my lowest grade.” Those answering “history/political science” received 15 points. Playing four or more sports in high school was worth 5 points.
By contrast, holding a pilot’s license — a major advantage for a controller — was worth only 2 points. And having valuable experience as an air traffic controller in the military was worth no points at all."
"More than 3,000 top-performing, motivated applicants lost out because they weren’t members of this ethnic club. After Congress forced the FAA to drop the quiz in 2018, many former applicants reapplied and have since become controllers. Their careers were set back several years for no good reason."
"The crux of the lawsuit is that the FAA, under the Obama administration, dropped a skill-based system for hiring controllers and replaced it with a “biographical assessment” in an alleged bid to boost the number of minority job applicants.
Brigida, who is white, alleges he was discriminated against solely based on his race when his application was rejected, court papers state.
The would-be air traffic controller, who graduated from Arizona State University’s collegiate training initiative in 2013, was turned down for a job even though he had scored 100% on his training exam, the lawsuit alleges."
"Over 1,000 would-be air traffic controllers were wiped out from consideration overnight because of diversity and inclusion hiring targets suddenly being implemented, according to the lead lawyer in a class-action lawsuit against the FAA.
Michael Pearson told The Post his clients had completed all their training at FAA-approved institutions before they were placed in a direct hiring pool for air traffic controllers — as was standard at the time.
Within months of graduating, they were informed by the FAA they would need to pass a new “biographical assessment” which, he claimed, awarded extra points to people with “no aviation experience.”
"Simultaneously, a four-year near-freeze on air traffic controller hiring was also underway as the DEI policies were introduced, according to Pearson, a former air traffic controller and trainer.
“The FAA, because of DEI policies, stopped hiring for three to four years and that directly correlates to the lack of staffing, and controllers being overworked and getting fatigued and burned out,” he told The Post.
In 2018, the biographical assessment was “removed as a screening tool,” according to the FAA.
“If the DC crash is determined to be linked to ATC fatigue or lack of awareness — it’s directly related to DEI — President Trump was right about that,” said Pearson."
- Lawsuit uncovered FAA discrimination in hiring, rejecting over 1,000 qualified air traffic controller applicants based on race.
- Obama-era FAA implemented biographical test favoring diversity over skills, ignored highly qualified candidates from CTI program.
- Minority candidates given unfair advantage through "buzz words" and irrelevant questions, while qualified CTI graduates were passed over.
"Furthermore, the FAA has stopped hiring controllers from its usual source, the Air Traffic Collegiate Training Initiative -- something that's currently the source of a lawsuit which alleges the Obama administration overlooked roughly 1,000 qualified candidates because the pool wasn't diverse enough."
Also, as the Daily Signal noted in 2023, the implementation of the woke "biographical assessment" was even worse than it sounds on paper.
"The assessment reportedly gives more points to applicants who have not been employed for the last three years than to an applicant who answers that he has been a pilot or a veteran with an air traffic control-related military background," the outlet reported."
"The news outlet noted in 2012 that the FAA temporarily halted hiring of new controllers and replaced its race-blind hiring rules with a “Biographical Assessment” stratagem intended to hire more minorities.
Playing four or more sports in high school was worth 5 points in the survey, while holding a pilot’s license only earned an applicant 2 points.
“More than 3,000 top-performing, motivated applicants lost out because they weren’t members of this ethnic club,” the Times said."
"So, let’s backtrack a little bit. Beginning during Barack Obama’s administration, the FAA began hiring those with what are called “targeted disabilities,” in order to “empower them and facilitate their entry into a more diverse and inclusive workforce” in air traffic operations. What are “targeted disabilities,” you might ask? According to a memorandum last updated March 23, 2022, according to Fox News, it includes those with “severe physical disabilities, psychiatric disabilities, and intellectual disabilities.”
In fact, the
memorandum stated that these individuals could be hired “on-the-spot” with a “non-competitive hiring method” to ensure, one assumes, maximum diversity."
“This excepted authority is used to appoint persons with severe physical disabilities, psychiatric disabilities, and intellectual disabilities,” the memo said.
“Such individuals may qualify for conversion to permanent status after two years of satisfactory service. Severe physical disabilities include but are not limited to blindness, deafness, paralysis, missing limbs, epilepsy, dwarfism, and more.”
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