Diversity-Driven FDNY Relaxes Rules for Female Firefighter
LatestIn July, a group of potential firefighters considered the most diverse ever in the FDNY’s history began training. Of 318 recruits, 66% were minorities, and the class had a record eight women. Five of those women made it through probation to become firefighters. But according to some firefighters, one of those women isn’t cutting it, and they believe she’s been kept around simply because she’s a woman.
The Post claims that Wendy Tapia – one of only five women in the FDNY’s latest class of 285 new firefighters; there are only 35 total women, total, amongst the city’s 11,000 firefighters – has failed the FDNY running test five times but was still allowed to graduate from Fire Academy; her sixth running test is scheduled for December. According to the FDNY, it was pushed back because of work-related foot injury. That’s an excuse her coworkers don’t buy. One argued that Tapia wasn’t being held to a high enough standard:
“I don’t know how she got to graduate. It never should have happened,” a female firefighter told The Post. “You should not graduate if you can’t meet all the requirements — male, female, black or white.”
Another thought the effort being invested into her was wasteful: