Supreme Court impacts hiring practices

WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court's ruling against a city that discarded the results of a firefighter promotion test after whites outscored minorities is likely to affect employers nationwide trying to ensure that hiring practices do not exclude certain segments of society.

The 5-4 decision controlled by the conservative wing raises the bar for employers seeking to change a test or other job criteria because it hurts minorities, or in other situations, women. It cautions employers not to act largely on lopsided statistics.

The decision in the New Haven, Conn., case also heightened the politics around President Obama's nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for the high court. She was a member of the panel that wrote the decision reversed by the justices.

Writing for the majority in the case brought by white firefighters denied promotion, Justice Anthony Kennedy said the city violated a provision of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act that bars discriminatory treatment. New Haven officials had said they were trying to meet a separate Title VII rule that bars tests that cause a discriminatory impact.

Officials said they acted against the interests of the whites because they believed the test was flawed and they feared lawsuits from the blacks and Hispanics who failed to qualify for promotion.

"The city … turned a blind eye to evidence that supported the exams' validity," Kennedy said, finding that New Haven lacked a required "strong basis in evidence" that it would face lawsuits from those who didn't score high enough for promotion.

Kennedy emphasized the mandate of Title VII: "No individual should face workplace discrimination based on race." The lead plaintiff in the challenge to the city's action was Frank Ricci, who is dyslexic and said he spent $1,000 on materials to prepare for the exam.

In an impassioned dissent, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg emphasized the "twin pillars" of the civil rights law and invoked a history of bias in New Haven firehouses and throughout the country.