Today the U.S. Supreme Court sided with white firefighters in a workplace discrimination lawsuit. The case is at the center of affirmative action and the role race should play in job advancement.
The court ruled that the city of New Haven, Connecticut, was wrong to trash a promotions exam because no African-Americans and only two Hispanic firefighters had a chance to be made lieutenants or captains based on the tests results.
The city said that it had acted and threw out the test to avoid a lawsuit from minorities.
“Fear of litigation alone cannot justify an employer’s reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations and qualified for promotions.”
“The Supreme Court was being asked to decide whether there was a continued need for special treatment for minorities, or whether enough progress has been made to make existing laws obsolete, especially in a political atmosphere in which an African-American occupies the White House.”
At issue was whether or not the city intentionally discriminated against white fire fighters — in violation of both federal law and the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.
“The city rejected the test results solely because the higher scoring candidates were white,” wrote Justice Anthony Kennedy for the majority. “Fear of litigation alone cannot justify an employer’s reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations and qualified for promotions.”
All of the judges didn’t see eye to eye though.
“In dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said the white firefighters “understandably attract this court’s sympathy. But they had no vested right to promotion. Nor have other persons received promotions in preference to them.”
“Relying so heavily on pencil-and-paper exams to select firefighters is a dubious practice,” Ginsburg said, calling the majority ruling “troubling.”
“Congress endeavored to promote equal opportunity in fact, and not simply in form. The damage today’s decision does to that objective is untold,” she said.
Click links to check out articles about the Supreme Court Ruling for White Firefighters and the High Court Backing White Fire Fighters.
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