NYPD pulled something similar in the late 70's. Despite getting 100% on the exam and getting called up for the physical etc., many "generic" white candidates were weeded out by being told they had one or more of any number of "maladies". However, if a father or brother was on the dept., there didn't seem to be the same issue. (Having an uncle on the dept. wasn't good enough and I was told by the detective working my case that I should just get a letter from my doctor to countermand their findings. I told them "no thanks" based upon my uncle's recommendation.)
That same year the entry exam, which was extremely easy but for the memorization section, was challenged as being culturally biased despite the fact that candidates who spoke English as a second language scored higher than the group that brought the suit.
I was actually interviewed by a late night radio host on WPLJ (as I recall) in regard to this discriminatory practice and it blew his mind. He had a hard time wrapping his head around the reverse discrimination / quota system.