U.S. Supreme Court to Address Reverse Discrimination
The U.S. Supreme Court, in Ricci v. DeStefano, will address the question of whether municipalities may decline to certify results of a civil service exam that would make disproportionately more white applicants eligible for promotion than minority applicants, as a result of concerns that certifying the results would lead to charges of racial discrimination.
In a case brought by a group of white firefighters and a Hispanic firefighter in New Haven, CT, the employees argued that they were discriminated against because they were not black. The firefighters believed they would have been promoted for captain and lieutenant positions if the city did not invalidate the test results soon after it had learned that no black candidate scored high enough to be considered for the management positions. When defending its decision, the city argued that it rejected the exam because, if certified, it would create a disparate impact on black candidates and the city would face potential employment discrimination lawsuits.
The federal trial judge upheld the city’s decision and dismissed the case. The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal.
Reverse discrimination cases present highly sensitive issues employers face in an effort to promote diversity in the workplace. Courts may hear more reverse discrimination cases in the future as affirmative action programs become more prevalent.
