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Here is the Summary of the decision:
SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES
Syllabus
RICCI ET AL. v. DESTEFANO ET AL.
CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE SECOND CIRCUIT
No. 07–1428. Argued April 22, 2009—Decided June 29, 2009*
New Haven, Conn. (City), uses objective examinations to identify thosefirefighters best qualified for promotion. When the results of such an exam to fill vacant lieutenant and captain positions showed thatwhite candidates had outperformed minority candidates, a rancorouspublic debate ensued. Confronted with arguments both for and against certifying the test results—and threats of a lawsuit eitherway—the City threw out the results based on the statistical racial disparity. Petitioners, white and Hispanic firefighters who passedthe exams but were denied a chance at promotions by the City’s re-fusal to certify the test results, sued the City and respondent officials,alleging that discarding the test results discriminated against thembased on their race in violation of, inter alia, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The defendants responded that had they certifiedthe test results, they could have faced Title VII liability for adoptinga practice having a disparate impact on minority firefighters. The District Court granted summary judgment for the defendants, andthe Second Circuit affirmed.
Held: The City’s action in discarding the tests violated Title VII. Pp. 16–34.
(a) Title VII prohibits intentional acts of employment discrimina-tion based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin, 42 U. S. C. §2000e–2(a)(1) (disparate treatment), as well as policies or practices that are not intended to discriminate but in fact have a dispropor-tionately adverse effect on minorities, §2000e–2(k)(1)(A)(i) (disparateimpact). Once a plaintiff has established a prima facie case of dispa-
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*Together with No. 08–328, Ricci et al. v. DeStefano et al., also on certiorari to the same court.
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Syllabus
rate impact, the employer may defend by demonstrating that itspolicy or practice is “job related for the position in question and con-sistent with business necessity.” Ibid. If the employer meets that burden, the plaintiff may still succeed by showing that the employerrefuses to adopt an available alternative practice that has less dispa-rate impact and serves the employer’s legitimate needs. §§2000e–2(k)(1)(A)(ii) and (C). Pp. 17–19.
(b)
Under Title VII, before an employer can engage in intentionaldiscrimination for the asserted purpose of avoiding or remedying an unintentional, disparate impact, the employer must have a strong basis in evidence to believe it will be subject to disparate-impact li-ability if it fails to take the race-conscious, discriminatory action. The Court’s analysis begins with the premise that the City’s actions would violate Title VII’s disparate-treatment prohibition absent somevalid defense. All the evidence demonstrates that the City rejectedthe test results because the higher scoring candidates were white.Without some other justification, this express, race-based decision-making is prohibited. The question, therefore, is whether the pur-pose to avoid disparate-impact liability excuses what otherwise would be prohibited disparate-treatment discrimination. The Court has considered cases similar to the present litigation, but in the contextof the Fourteenth Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. Such cases can provide helpful guidance in this statutory context. See Watson v. Fort Worth Bank & Trust, 487 U. S. 977, 993. In those cases, the Court held that certain government actions to remedy past racial dis-crimination—actions that are themselves based on race—are consti-tutional only where there is a “strong basis in evidence” that the re-medial actions were necessary. Richmond v. J. A. Croson Co., 488
U.
S. 469, 500; see also Wygant v. Jackson Bd. of Ed., 476 U. S. 267,
277. In announcing the strong-basis-in-evidence standard, the Wy-gant plurality recognized the tension between eliminating segrega-tion and discrimination on the one hand and doing away with all gov-ernmentally imposed discrimination based on race on the other. 476
U. S., at 277. It reasoned that “[e]videntiary support for the conclu-sion that remedial action is warranted becomes crucial when the re-medial program is challenged in court by nonminority employees.” Ibid. The same interests are at work in the interplay between TitleVII’s disparate-treatment and disparate-impact provisions. Apply-ing the strong-basis-in-evidence standard to Title VII gives effect toboth provisions, allowing violations of one in the name of compliance with the other only in certain, narrow circumstances. It also allows the disparate-impact prohibition to work in a manner that is consis-tent with other Title VII provisions, including the prohibition on ad-justing employment-related test scores based on race, see §2000e–
Cite as: 557 U. S. ____ (2009) 3
Syllabus
2(l), and the section that expressly protects bona fide promotional ex-ams, see §2000e–2(h). Thus, the Court adopts the strong-basis-in-evidence standard as a matter of statutory construction in order to resolve any conflict between Title VII’s disparate-treatment and dis-parate-impact provisions. Pp. 19–26.
(c)
The City’s race-based rejection of the test results cannot satisfy the strong-basis-in-evidence standard. Pp. 26–34.
(i)
The racial adverse impact in this litigation was significant, and petitioners do not dispute that the City was faced with a primafacie case of disparate-impact liability. The problem for respondentsis that such a prima facie case—essentially, a threshold showing of a significant statistical disparity, Connecticut v. Teal, 457 U. S. 440, 446, and nothing more—is far from a strong basis in evidence thatthe City would have been liable under Title VII had it certified thetest results. That is because the City could be liable for disparate-impact discrimination only if the exams at issue were not job relatedand consistent with business necessity, or if there existed an equallyvalid, less discriminatory alternative that served the City’s needs but that the City refused to adopt. §§2000e–2(k)(1)(A), (C). Based on the record the parties developed through discovery, there is no substan-tial basis in evidence that the test was deficient in either respect. Pp. 26–28.
(ii)
The City’s assertions that the exams at issue were not job re-lated and consistent with business necessity are blatantly contra-dicted by the record, which demonstrates the detailed steps taken todevelop and administer the tests and the painstaking analyses of thequestions asked to assure their relevance to the captain and lieuten-ant positions. The testimony also shows that complaints that certainexamination questions were contradictory or did not specifically ap-ply to firefighting practices in the City were fully addressed, and that the City turned a blind eye to evidence supporting the exams’ valid-ity. Pp. 28–29.
(iii) Respondents also lack a strong basis in evidence showing an equally valid, less discriminatory testing alternative that the City, bycertifying the test results, would necessarily have refused to adopt.Respondents’ three arguments to the contrary all fail. First, respon-dents refer to testimony that a different composite-score calculationwould have allowed the City to consider black candidates for then-open positions, but they have produced no evidence to show that thecandidate weighting actually used was indeed arbitrary, or that thedifferent weighting would be an equally valid way to determinewhether candidates are qualified for promotions. Second, respon-dents argue that the City could have adopted a different interpreta-tion of its charter provision limiting promotions to the highest scoring
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Syllabus
applicants, and that the interpretation would have produced less dis-criminatory results; but respondents’ approach would have violated Title VII’s prohibition of race-based adjustment of test results,§2000e–2(l). Third, testimony asserting that the use of an assess-ment center to evaluate candidates’ behavior in typical job tasks would have had less adverse impact than written exams does not aidrespondents, as it is contradicted by other statements in the recordindicating that the City could not have used assessment centers for the exams at issue. Especially when it is noted that the strong-basis-in-evidence standard applies to this case, respondents cannot create a genuine issue of fact based on a few stray (and contradictory) state-ments in the record. Pp. 29–33.
(iv) Fear of litigation alone cannot justify the City’s reliance on race to the detriment of individuals who passed the examinations andqualified for promotions. Discarding the test results was impermis-sible under Title VII, and summary judgment is appropriate for peti-tioners on their disparate-treatment claim. If, after it certifies the test results, the City faces a disparate-impact suit, then in light of today’s holding the City can avoid disparate-impact liability based onthe strong basis in evidence that, had it not certified the results, it would have been subject to disparate-treatment liability. Pp. 33–34.
530 F. 3d 87, reversed and remanded.
KENNEDY, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS, C.J., and SCALIA, THOMAS, and ALITO, JJ., joined. SCALIA, J., filed a concurring opinion. ALITO, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which SCALIA and THOMAS, JJ., joined. GINSBURG, J., filed a dissenting opin-ion, in which STEVENS, SOUTER, and BREYER, JJ., joined
KENNEDY, J., delivered the opinion of the Court, in which ROBERTS, C.J., and SCALIA, THOMAS, and ALITO, JJ., joined. SCALIA, J., filed a concurring opinion. ALITO, J., filed a concurring opinion, in which SCALIA and THOMAS, JJ., joined. GINSBURG, J., filed a dissenting opin-ion, in which STEVENS, SOUTER, and BREYER, JJ., joined.
Snippet from ruling ...
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“The racial adverse impact here was significant, and petitioners do not dispute that the City was faced with aprima facie case of disparate-impact liability.
On the captain exam, the pass rate for white candidates was 64percent but was 37.5 percent for both black and Hispanic candidates.
On the lieutenant exam, the pass rate for white candidates was 58.1 percent; for black candidates, 31.6 percent; and for Hispanic candidates, 20 percent.
The pass rates of minorities, which were approximately one half the pass rates for white candidates, fall well below the 80-percent standard set by the EEOC to implement the disparate-impact provision of Title VII.
See 29 CFR §1607.4(D) (2008) (selection rate that is less than 80 percent “of the rate for the group with the highest rate will generally be regarded by the Federal enforcement agencies as evidence of adverse impact”); Watson, 487 U. S., at 995–996, n. 3 (plurality opinion) (EEOC’s 80-percent standard is “a rule of thumb for the courts”).
Based on how the passing candidates ranked and an application of the “rule of three,” certifying the examinations would have meant that the City could not have considered black candidates for any of the then-vacant lieutenant or captain positions.
Based on the degree of adverse impact reflected in the results, respondents were compelled to take a hard look at the examinations to determine whether certifying the
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results would have had an impermissible disparate impact.
The problem for respondents is that a prima facie case of disparate-impact liability—essentially, a threshold showing of a significant statistical disparity, Connecticut
v. Teal, 457 U. S. 440, 446 (1982), and nothing more — is far from a strong basis in evidence that the City would have been liable under Title VII had it certified the results.
That is because the City could be liable for disparate-impact discrimination only if the examinations were not job related and consistent with business necessity, or if there existed an equally valid, less-discriminatory alternative that served the City’s needs but that the City refused to adopt. §2000e–2(k)(1)(A), (C).
We conclude there is no strong basis in evidence to establish that the test was deficient in either of these respects. We address each of the two points in turn, based on the record developed by the parties through discovery— a record that concentrates in substantial part on the statements various witnesses made to the CSB.”
Thanks for the link. I read over it, with particular attention on the dissenting opinion.
Their argument can be summed up as follows: performance disparity should never fall along racial lines, and if it does, it is clear evidence of a racially discriminatory performance measure. Other fire departments with similar demographic environments have successfully developed objective performance standards which result in equitable performance profiles when measured along racial lines. Whichever tests result in low racial inequality are tests that are non-discriminatory.
In an attempt to illustrate how institutional racism can sneak into the performance analysis, they cite that access to study materials is not uniform across racial lines, because most minority firefighters are first generation firefighters and have no kin network over which study materials and assistance can be provided. They cite that, in conjunction with the reported multi-week backorder for study materials from the publisher, this “legacy advantage” afforded to white second+ generation firefighters is partly responsible for the disparity in racial performance.
On another front, the dissent cites that consultations for test material were provided by the existing command structure, which is mostly white, thus permitting a potential avenue for the injection of racial bias into the test questions. Absent any criticism against a single particular question potentially loaded with racial bias, the dissent instead outlines that a noted professional in firefighter performance analysis believes that the relative weight of test components should have been subject to external consultation; such consultation would have presumably resulting in a higher weighting for oral/physical test components which uniformly show higher relative performance by racial minorities compared to written test questions (and, as is fashionable in some education circles, the validity of written test questions as a performance measure for potential job performance is doubted - when the results are socially inconvenient).
Altogether a predictable dissent. They cannot find an individual who was wronged in any concrete way, but have no trouble identifying discrimination against a group. They cannot find a single element of the performance measure which is potentially racially loaded, but can toss the entire assessment because the results are inconvenient. This is your brain on the left-wing mental retardation endemic across college campuses since the 1960’s.
bump opinion at 21
Thanks for the link. I read over it, with particular attention on the dissenting opinion.
Their argument can be summed up as follows: performance disparity should never fall along racial lines, and if it does, it is clear evidence of a racially discriminatory performance measure. Other fire departments with similar demographic environments have successfully developed objective performance standards which result in equitable performance profiles when measured along racial lines. Whichever tests result in low racial inequality are tests that are non-discriminatory.
In an attempt to illustrate how institutional racism can sneak into the performance analysis, they cite that access to study materials is not uniform across racial lines, because most minority firefighters are first generation firefighters and have no kin network over which study materials and assistance can be provided. They cite that, in conjunction with the reported multi-week backorder for study materials from the publisher, this “legacy advantage” afforded to white second+ generation firefighters is partly responsible for the disparity in racial performance.
On another front, the dissent cites that consultations for test material were provided by the existing command structure, which is mostly white, thus permitting a potential avenue for the injection of racial bias into the test questions. Absent any criticism against a single particular question potentially loaded with racial bias, the dissent instead outlines that a noted professional in firefighter performance analysis believes that the relative weight of test components should have been subject to external consultation; such consultation would have presumably resulting in a higher weighting for oral/physical test components which uniformly show higher relative performance by racial minorities compared to written test questions (and, as is fashionable in some education circles, the validity of written test questions as a performance measure for potential job performance is doubted - when the results are socially inconvenient).
Altogether a predictable dissent. They cannot find an individual who was wronged in any concrete way, but have no trouble identifying discrimination against a group. They cannot find a single element of the performance measure which is potentially racially loaded, but can toss the entire assessment because the results are inconvenient. This is your brain on the left-wing mental retardation endemic across college campuses since the 1960’s.
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/08pdf/07-1428.pdf
Alito's concurring opinion rebuts the dissenting opinion of Ginsberg, Souter, Breyer, and Stevens. It concludes:The least employee-friendly standard asks only whether “the actual decisionmaker” acted with discriminatory intent, see Hill v. Lockheed Martin Logistics Management, Inc., 354 F. 3d 277, 291 (CA4 2004) (en banc), and it is telling that, even under this standard, summary judgment for respondents would not be proper. This is so because a reasonable jury could certainly find that in New Haven, the Mayor—not the CSB—wielded the final decisionmak- ing power. After all, the Mayor claimed that authority and was poised to use it in the event that the CSB decided to accept the test results. See supra, at 9. If the Mayor had the authority to overrule a CSB decision accepting the test results, the Mayor also presumably had the authority to overrule the CSB’s decision rejecting the test results. In light of the Mayor’s conduct, it would be quite wrong to throw out petitioners’ case on the ground that the CSB was the ultimate decisionmaker.IOW, whether or not its motives were discriminatory the CSB board which set aside the test (refusing to promote the plaintiff firefighters) was just window dressing. The real authority lay with the mayor - and his decision not to override the board was discriminatory because he had no intention of crossing the community organizer who helped him get reelected.