Interesting Discrimination Case In New York City

The City of New York Fire Dept. (FDNY) has been found that is has discriminated against Blacks and Hispanics in hiring practices. A federal district court judge found that the city discriminated against minority candidates in it's testing procedure. One interesting aspect is that both sides requested an immediate summary judgement without trial but the judge decided, that instead of holding a trial, he would side with the minorities. Very unusual, indeed. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/14/nyregion/14fire.html?em
The judge, a President Clinton appointee, former NYC school teacher and lawyer to a liberal politician, decided the test involved was discriminatory towards blacks. I have always wondered how a firefighter test is discriminatory towards a minority. I have taken several tests for firefighter and they were basic knowledge tests. It included basic math questions, writing, reading, figuring what ways a gear would turn, how you may handle a simple situation, matching, etc.. How can those be discriminatory? Hell, many fire departments now require that you actually have experience as a firefighter, taken classes or have an EMT license. I guess that would be discrimination in NYC.
The City of New York faces millions of dollars in damages, as this is a class action law suit. I highly suspect that if NYC appealed, they would win. At the very least, you would think the there will be a trial. And considering that an apparent very liberal judge made the decision, it most likely be overturned for many reasons.