A federal appeals court in New York says a Brooklyn judge rushed to judgment in deciding that the city had intentionally discriminated in failing to hire more black and Hispanic firefighters.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued its ruling Tuesday. The circuit returned the case to Brooklyn. It also assigned some of the duties of the case to another judge. One member of the three-judge appeals panel partially dissented from the majority opinion.

The ruling came after a Brooklyn judge found there was hiring discrimination at the Fire Department and imposed new policies to correct it.

The appeals court did not reject the new policies but revised them.

The ruling resulted from a lawsuit brought by a black firefighters’ group, the Vulcan Society, more than a decade ago.

(AP)