Civil Service Board denies firefighter Carter’s appeal over skipped promotion to lieutenant

The City of Dallas Civil Service Board on June 3 denied a grievance from Dallas Fire Rescue Driver Engineer William Jordan Carter seeking retroactive promotion after he was added to an amended lieutenant promotional eligibility list.

Carter said he was reinstated in October 2023 following an appeal of a termination and was allowed to take a delayed promotional exam for fire lieutenant. After he passed the written test and assessment center, the Civil Service Department added him to an amended promotional eligibility list posted May 14, 2024, at which point his name appeared at number 21 on the list. Carter told the board that 27 members who scored below him had been promoted earlier and that Dallas Fire Rescue created three new lieutenant positions and promoted three members on June 19, 2024 — employees ranked below Carter — instead of advancing him; the list expired June 20, 2024, under the rule's 18‑month limit.

Attorney Michael McDade (appellant counsel) argued that the list's purpose and reasonable expectations of members mean promotions should be made in rank order, and he sought retroactive promotion and backpay to the June 19, 2024 date. "The intent of the process is that promotions are then made in order of the results of the examination as a vacancy occurs at that rank," McDade said in his presentation.

City attorneys countered that the only civil service rule Carter cited in his grievance — Rule 4.4(e) — requires Civil Service to place passing candidates on an eligibility list and that the list remain in effect for 18 months. Jennifer Brissett, representing the city, told the board the Civil Service Department had done so in Carter’s case and that the department did not violate the text of Rule 4.4(e). "The evidence in this hearing is clear and undisputed: Carter passed, Civil Service placed his name on the eligibility list, and that list remained in effect for exactly 18 months," Brissett said.

Jared Davis, Civil Service Board secretary and department director, testified about how registers are produced and explained the department does not direct the fire chief whom to promote and that the 18‑month clock for the original list does not reset when an amended list is published. He told the board that a chief may request an extension of a register from the Civil Service Board, but no extension was requested in this case.

After questioning and deliberation, the board answered the formal question before it — whether Carter had established by a preponderance of the evidence that Dallas Fire Rescue violated Civil Service Rule 4.4(e) by not promoting him from the eligibility list that expired June 20, 2024 — in the negative. The board determined Carter had not met his burden under the rule and denied the requested retroactive promotion. The chair and other members said the Civil Service Department had followed Rule 4.4(e) by producing and maintaining the register for 18 months.

The board's action did not change prior promotions that had already been made by Dallas Fire Rescue. The board and counsel noted that other departmental rules and the department's MOPs (manual procedures) were not properly before the board in this grievance proceeding or were not grievable through this civil service rule appeal.