Ruling in New Haven Firefighters Case Resolves Potential
Conflicts Between Disparate Treatment and Disparate Impact Claims
and Presents New Challenges for Employers
On June 29, 2009, the Supreme Court issued its long-awaited
decision in Ricci, et al. v. Destefano, et al., also known
as the New Haven firefighters "reverse" discrimination
case. The case is significant because it establishes that an
employer may not manipulate the results of legitimate, job-related
promotional examinations to obtain a more diverse workforce absent
a showing that there is a strong basis in evidence to believe the
employer will be subject to disparate impact liability if it fails
to take the race conscious discriminatory action. The case breaks
new ground by resolving potential conflicts between disparate
treatment and disparate impact claims, and presents new challenges
for employers faced with potential litigation arising from testing
requirements or other facially-neutral employment
