It reasoned that “[e]videntiary support for the conclusion that remedial action is warranted becomes crucial when the remedial program is challenged in court by nonminority employees.” Ibid.

102-40, pt. 401 U. S., at 431. Courts have long criticized written firefighter promotion exams for being "more probative of the test-taker's ability to recall what a particular text stated on a given topic than of his firefighting or supervisory knowledge and abilities." A Title VII plaintiff may attempt to rebut an employer's showing of job-relatedness and necessity by identifying alternative selection methods that would have been at least as valid but with "less of an adverse or disparate or discriminatory effect." Hornick suggested that testing candidates at an "assessment center" rather than using written and oral examinations "might serve [the City's] needs better." Legel told the CSB that third-party reviewers had scrutinized the examinations to ensure that the written test was drawn from the source material and that the oral test accurately tested real-world situations that captains and lieutenants would face. Hornick made clear that he was "not suggesting that [IOS] somehow created a test that had adverse impacts that it should not have had." Petitioners' counsel in this action argued that the CSB should certify the results. The CSB's decision not to certify the examination results led to this lawsuit.

Restricting an employer's ability to discard test results (and thereby discriminate against qualified candidates on the basis of their race) also is in keeping with Title VII's express protection of bona fide promotional examinations. The first would be issued if the CSB voted not to certify the test results; the second would be issued (and would explain the Mayor’s invocation of his executive authority) if the CSB voted to certify the test results. Again according to Legel, “[a] theme” of the meeting was “the political and racial overtones of what was going on in the City.” Id., at 181a. The Court's standard, drawn from inapposite equal protection precedents, is not elaborated. Chief among the City's problems was the very nature of the tests for promotion.

Ibid.

Kennedy, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which Roberts, C.J., and Scalia, Thomas, and Alito, JJ., joined.

Id., at A786, A789. See also supra, at 17. ante, at 6. Near the end of his remarks, Legel "implor[ed] anyone that had ... concerns to review the content of the exam. Id., at A1028. Were they seeking to exclude white firefighters from promotion (unlikely, as a fair test would undoubtedly result in the addition of white firefighters to the officer ranks), or did they realize, at least belatedly, that their tests could be toppled in a disparate-impact suit? The City rejected the test results solely because the higher scoring candidates were white. See, e.g., id., at A1034-A1035, A1051.

"The touchstone" for determining whether a test or qualification meets Title VII's measure, the Court said, is not "good intent or the absence of discriminatory intent"; it is "business necessity."

But what this case does not present is race-based discrimination in violation of Title VII. 554 F. Supp. for Cert. On the captain exam, both African-American and Hispanic candidates passed at about half the rate of their Caucasian counterparts. Testimony before the CSB also raised questions concerning unequal access to study materials, see id., at A857-A861, and the potential bias introduced by relying principally on job analyses from nonminority fire officers to develop the exams, see id., at A1063-A1064.16 See also supra, at 7, 10. That assertion, however, ignores the fact that, by codifying the disparate-impact provision in 1991, Congress has expressly prohibited both types of discrimination. According to the dissent, the objective component should be whether the evidence provided “good cause” for the decision, post, at 19, and the dissent argues—incorrectly, in my view—that no reasonable juror could fail to find that such evidence was present here.

A "yes" or "no" answer to the question framed in the issue section; A summary of the majority or plurality opinion, using the CREAC method; and. The CSB's fifth and final meeting began with statements from City officials recommending against certification.

Griggs addressed Duke Power Company's policy that applicants for positions, save in the company's labor department, be high school graduates and score satisfactorily on two professionally prepared aptitude tests. I write separately only because the dissent, while claiming that "[t]he Court's recitation of the facts leaves out important parts of the story," post, at 2 (opinion of Ginsburg, J. Yet the Court today does not so much as mention EEOC's counsel. New Haven, Conn. (City), uses objective examinations to identify those firefighters best qualified for promotion. 488 U. S., at 499. See ante, at 14. That operational principle could not be justified, for Title VII is express in disclaiming any interpretation of its requirements as calling for outright racial balancing. "MR. UDE: I think that by itself would be sufficient.

Get Ricci v. DeStefano, 557 U.S. 557 (2009), United States Supreme Court, case facts, key issues, and holdings and reasonings online today. At that time, municipal fire departments across the country, including New Haven's, pervasively discriminated against minorities. Overall, the senior officer ranks (captain and higher) are nine percent African-American and nine percent Hispanic.

The difficulty is this: Whether or not Title VII's disparate-treatment provisions forbid "remedial" race-based actions when a disparate-impact violation would not otherwise result--the question resolved by the Court today--it is clear that Title VII not only permits but affirmatively requires such actions when a disparate-impact violation would otherwise result. Pp. Here, Title VII's disparate-treatment and disparate-impact proscriptions must be read as complementary. The second, subjective question concerns the employer’s intent. Kimber called the City’s Chief Administrative Officer, Karen Dubois-Walton, who “acts ‘on behalf of the Mayor.’ ” Id., at 221a, 812a. This alone would have posed a substantial problem for New Haven in a disparate-impact suit, particularly in light of the disparate results the City's scheme had produced in the past. Id., at A1030-A1031. Read more about Quimbee. Brief for United States as Amicus Curiae 6; see also id., at 32-33. See ante, at 4-9. 06-4996-cv (CA2), p. A1588 (hereinafter CA2 App.). practice questions in 1L, 2L, & 3L subjects, as well as 16,500+ case A representative of the International Association of Black Professional Firefighters, Donald Day from neighboring Bridgeport, Connecticut, "beseech[ed]" the CSB "to throw away that test," which he described as "inherently unfair" because of the racial distribution of the results. Ude focused the CSB on determining "whether there are other ways to test for ... those positions that are equally valid with less adverse impact." or redistributed. Cf. See §2000e-2(l). After reviewing bids from various consultants, the City hired Industrial/Organizational Solutions, Inc. (IOS) to develop and administer the examinations, at a cost to the City of $100,000. A reasonable jury, he maintains, could have found that respondents were not actually motivated by concern about disparate-impact litigation, but instead sought only "to placate a politically important [African-American] constituency." §2000e-2(j). Ante, at 22. in No. See also id., at A1042-A1043 ("I think a person's leadership skills, their command presence, their interpersonal skills, their management skills, their tactical skills could have been identified and evaluated in a much more appropriate way."). The results showed significant racial disparities. The District Court did not adhere to this principle, however. There is not a shred of evidence that a private meeting with Kimber or anyone else took place.

Id., at A1032.

“Vargas devoted countless hours to study … , missed two of his children’s birthdays and over two weeks of vacation time,” and “incurred significant financial expense” during the three-month study period. In the fire department of New Haven, Connecticut--as in emergency-service agencies throughout the Nation--firefighters prize their promotion to and within the officer ranks. The guidelines recognize that employers may "take affirmative action based on an analysis which reveals facts constituting actual or potential adverse impact." Id., at 457a. Forty-one candidates completed the captain examination--25 whites, 8 blacks, and 8 Hispanics.