July 9 (Bloomberg) -- Frank Ricci, a white firefighter who won a Supreme Court ruling on race discrimination last month, has been called by Republicans to testify against Sonia Sotomayor at her confirmation hearings next week.

Ricci is among more than two dozen people listed as potential witnesses by the Senate Judiciary Committee for the hearings that begin July 13. Sotomayor was a member of a three- judge federal appeals court in New York that ruled against white firefighters in the race case from New Haven, Connecticut.

The Supreme Court, voting 5-4, reversed the appeals court ruling, saying New Haven violated the firefighters’ rights by canceling promotions because no blacks scored well enough on tests to qualify.

Sotomayor, 55, is President Barack Obama’s first high court nominee, picked to replace retiring Justice David Souter. She would be the first Hispanic and third woman ever to serve on the court.

Among the witnesses Democrats plan to call to testify for Sotomayor are New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, former FBI Director Louis Freeh and former Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau. Bloomberg is founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP.

In addition to Ricci, Republicans plan to call Sandy Froman, a former president of the National Rifle Association, a Fairfax, Virginia-based group that promotes gun ownership rights, and Dr. Charmaine Yoest, president of Americans United for Life, a Washington-based group that opposes abortion.

To contact the reporter on this story: Chris Stern in Washington at cstern3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: July 9, 2009 14:55 EDT