Supreme Court Overturns Sotomayor's Decision In The New Haven Reverse-Discrimination Firefighters Case

Justice Anthony Kennedy was the swing vote, with Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, and Alito joining him in the decision. He wrote that "[w]e conclude that race-based action like the City’s in this case is impermissible under Title VII unless the employer can demonstrate a strong basis in evidence that, had it not taken the action, it would have been liable under the disparate-impact statute. The respondents, we further determine, cannot meet that threshold standard. As a result, the City’s action in discarding the tests was a violation of Title VII. In light of our ruling under the statutes, we need not reach the question whether respondents’ actions may have violated the Equal Protection Clause. …In other words, there is no evidence —let alone the required strong basis in evidence—that the tests were flawed because they were not job-related or because other, equally valid and less discriminatory tests were available to the City. 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 City’s discarding the test results was impermissible under Title VII, and summary judgment is appropriate for petitioners on their disparate-treatment claim."

To read Justice Scalia's brief and interesting concurrence about how the Court avoided the central issue of "the war between [Title VII's] disparate impact [provisions] and equal protection" and "how—and on what terms—to make peace between them," visit http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-1428.ZC.html

To read the majority opinion, Alito's concurrence, or Ginsburg's dissent in full, visit http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/07-1428.ZD.html


The firefighters celebrated their legal victory:

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