A disabled military veteran is suing the City of Boston and its fire commissioner alleging that they are improperly using a new cadet program aimed at diversifying fire department ranks to bypass veterans and other more qualified candidates.

Jason Finn, an East Boston resident who said he was bypassed for original Boston firefighter appointment this year despite his name appearing on the civil service eligibility list “tied at the highest rank for vacancies” in the department at the time, filed a lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court.

The complaint challenges the legality of the city’s hiring practices, and a Massachusetts Civil Service Commission ruling that upheld them. Finn alleges that the city’s new fire cadet program, which allows cadets to receive preference to join the fire academy o

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