Ricci v. DeStefano
Supreme Court
557 U.S. 557 (2009)
New Haven, Connecticut administered promotion exams to firefighters, and the pass rates for Black and Hispanic candidates were substantially lower than for white candidates, meaning no African American firefighters would have been promoted based on the results. Facing potential lawsuits either way -- from those denied promotion if it used the results, or from those who would have been promoted if it didn't -- the city discarded the test scores entirely. White and Hispanic firefighters who would have been promoted sued, claiming this violated Title VII and the Equal Protection Clause.
Whether, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employers must have a strong basis in evidence that race-conscious hiring practices will have an unconstitutionally disparate impact before deciding not to implement such practices.