The US Supreme Court Ruling on Ricci v. DeStefano – An overview of the case and what the decision really means for test users (Part 1 of 2)

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I've been reading quite a bit about the US Supreme Court (USSC) ruling over the last few weeks and have received questions from our clients on what the case was really about and what the ruling might mean for them.

This week I'll provide a brief overview of the case for our readers (for specific details, visit: http://www.lawmemo.com/supreme/case/Ricci/) and in part 2 of my post next week I'll discuss some of the issues with the test and the implications of the case. Here goes...

In 2003, 118 firefighters took examinations to qualify for promotions to the rank of lieutenant or captain in the New Haven Fire Department. The results of the exams showed that white candidates passed the exam at a much higher rate than African American candidates... by almost a 2 to 1 margin. A public debate ensued where some firefighters argued that the test results should be discarded as they appeared to be discriminatory and threatened to file a lawsuit if the City made promotions based on the tests. Another group of firefighters said the exams were fair and threatened a discrimination lawsuit if the City ignored the test results and denied promotions to the highest scoring candidates.

After looking at the disparity in results and some design flaws in the test, the City made the choice not to certify the test results. Here now are the various lawsuits and court rulings leading up to the USSC's decision: 

1. White (and 1 Hispanic) firefighters responded to the City's decision by filing a reverse discrimination suit claiming that discarding the results discriminated against them and was in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

2. The City defended their stance and argued that if they had used the results to make promotions, they could have been in violation of Title VII by using a selection method that demonstrated disparate (adverse) impact. The case was heard by the New Haven District Court and the plaintiffs' (white firefighters) claims rejected, citing prior cases where "race conscious" interventions were used to remedy adverse impact.

3. The 2^nd Circuit Court upheld the District Court's decision.

4. Enter the US Supreme Court (USSC), which then reversed the decisions of the lower courts (by 5 to 4 margin) stating that the City of New Haven did not have enough evidence/justification ("strong basis in evidence") to throw out the results for fear of being potentially sued for discrimination.

Essentially, the USSC's decision sets the potential precedent that test users cannot just discard results when there is a hint of adverse impact. The case further brings to light the looming conflict between remedying adverse impact (race based decision) and facilitating equal protection (creating a color blind society). It seems like the City of New Haven was in a "no win" situation... either avoid the adverse impact suit at the risk of facing disparate treatment claims or vice versa.

Next week I'll discuss some of the issues with the firefighter exams, why these issues were not fully considered in the USSC's arguments and also what test users should take away from the case.