Court says black firefighter lawsuit can proceed

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Supreme Court says a group of African Americans can sue Chicago over a hiring test they challenged as discriminatory.

The high court on Monday unanimously overturned a lower court decision that said the black applicants had waited too long to sue. This is the second time in as many years that the high court has taken on allegations of discrimination in testing within the firefighting ranks.

The court said last year that New Haven, Conn., violated white firefighters' civil rights by throwing out an exam in which no African Americans scored high enough to be promoted.