A class action lawsuit settlement has been reached in Lewis v. City of Chicago that instructs the city of Chicago to hire 111 African-American class members as candidate firefighters and distribute back pay in equal shares among the eligible class members who were not hired as one of the 111. The lawsuit is in the jurisdiction of United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division and is entitled Arthur Lewis, Jr., et al. v. City of Chicago,case number 98 C 5596. Class member include anyone who was African American, took the 1995 Chicago Firefighter Examination, scored between between 65 and 88 and as a result was denied to the next steps in the hiring process. A class member also must have not been hired as one of the 111 firefighter/EMT positions in March or April of 2012. If your a class member in this case and would like to file a claim please do so no later than NOVEMBER 3, 2012. If you are a class member and do nothing you will receive no monetary award from this the Lewis v. City of Chicago lawsuit. ChicagoFirefightersClassAction.com provides the claim form and other court related documents.
If you qualify as a class member it is estimated all settlement payment should arrive by Christmas and be in the amount of $5,000 per member… this would make a lovely Christmas present for many African Americans who were denied jobs. Class members are be represented by the counsel of Joshua Karsh and Matthew Piers from Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. Any questions can be directed to the lawyers at 70 West Madison Street, Suite 4000, Chicago, IL 60602. To submit a claim online please have your Claim ID (which can be located on your class notice and claim form, LEWxxxxxx). If you are having trouble or need help submitting the claim please dial 1-855-796-7874.