$447,000:City of Miami Contract Violation

When the City of Miami changed its job promotion process for police officers seeking to advance to the rank of sergeant in 1994, they changed the way the officers were assessed. The new testing procedure included a defective oral board assessment that failed to adequately measure the job skills of the candidates.

On behalf of 21 officers affected by the new job promotion process, Ervin A. Gonzalez brough suit against the City of Miami, and won a jury verdict of $447,000 for the police officers as well as the promotions they had been seeking.

Ervin A. Gonzalez argued that the city failed to adhere to the Code of the City of Miami, The City of Miami Charter, and the City of Miami Civil Services rules and regulations as required by their contract with the Fraternal Order of Police.

The contract was violated when the city hired the consulting firm of Morris & McDaniel to create and administer an exam for police officers desiring to become sergeants. The two-part exam included a written test, which weighed 30 percent of the final test score, and an oral test, which weighed 50 percent of the final score. The remaining 20 percent of the overall score was based on officers’ seniority.

During the oral exam, officers viewed still photos while listening to an audio-cassette explanation of five specific situations presented in the pictures. Candidates were then required to respond verbally, on videotape, as to how they would handle the situation. A team of 24 assessors, selected and trained by Morris & McDaniel, rated the officers on their responses and demeanor. However, this oral test was inappropriate to determine candidates’ qualifications for sergeant rank, said Mr. Gonzalez.

“The exam didn’t realistically assess the skills that were required of a police sergeant in Miami, Florida. It was graded by people who were inadequately trained, and may have been unqualified to grade the exam,” argued Mr. Gonzalez. It was also impossible for the officers to challenge or verify the qualifications and training of their assessors, because Morris & McDaniel discarded that information.

The jury agreed with Mr. Gonzalez that the officers’ rights to be fairly evaluated for job promotion were violated by the use of the flawed examination. In addition to the $447,000.00 verdict, the officers named in the suit were awarded promotions to sergeant status, as well as back pay commensurate with that rank, retroactive to May 1994.