SCOTUS finds Firefighters WERE Discriminated Against!
“Whatever the City’s ultimate aim—however well intentioned or benevolent it might have seemed—the City made its employment decision because of race. The City rejected the test results solely because the higher scoring candidates were white.”
The Supreme Court today ruled in a 5-4 decision to overturn the Ricci case which involved 10 white and Hispanic firefighters whose promotion exams were thrown out by the city of New Haven, CT because the city feared a discrimination lawsuit by black firefighters. Some media outlets are referring to this case as one of “Reverse Discrimination”, but those weasel words don’t work – the SCOTUS found the case to be about DISCRIMINATION based on race – both for the white AS WELL as the Hispanic firefighters.
Have you ever read a SCOTUS opinion? You don’t need to be a lawyer to appreciate the writing. Read the Opinion HERE
As with most things in the media, the facts of the case don’t usually get spelled out in an easy sound bite. Amazingly, the opinion lays out the chronology of the efforts the city went to build their promotional system and tests, and the extra effort they made to make sure it was racially unbiased. The city hired a firm for $100,000 to do this! From page 9 of the opinion:
“At every stage of the job analyses, IOS, by deliberate choice, oversampled minority firefighters to ensure that the results—which IOS would use to develop the examinations—would not unintentionally favor white candidates.”
The test assessors were drawn from outside the city, with a 66% minority makeup. Each of the nine member assessment panels had two minority members.
Lieutenant exam results:
| White |
43 |
25 |
58% |
| Black |
19 |
6 |
32% |
| Hispanic |
15 |
3 |
20% |
| Total |
77 |
34 |
44% |
There were 8 Lieutenant vacancies, and per the rules, the top 10 Candidates were eligible for immediate promotion.
The top 10 were all white. Subsequent vacancies would have allowed the top 3 black candidates to be promoted.
Captain Exam Results:
| White |
25 |
16 |
64% |
| Black |
8 |
3 |
38% |
| Hispanic |
8 |
3 |
38% |
| Total |
41 |
22 |
54% |
There were seven Captain vacancies at the time thus per the rules, 9 Candidates were promotion eligible – 7 Whites and 2 Hispanics
When pressed by the City about concerns of discrimination impact on minorities, the consulting firm stated:
“ Legel defended the examinations’ validity, stating that any numerical disparity between white and minority candidates was likely due to various external factors and was in line with results of the Department’s previous promotional examinations.”
“Although they did not know whether they had passed or failed, some firefighter-candidates spoke at the first CSB meeting in favor of certifying the test results. Michael Blatchley stated that “[e]very one” of the questions on the written examination “came from the [study] material. . . .[I]f you read the materials and you studied the material, you would have done well on the test.””
“I don’t even know if I made it,” Ricci told the CSB, “[b]ut the people who passed should be promoted. When your life’s on the line, second best may not be good enough.”
Firefighters who opposed the certification complained that the test questions were not relevant, and “they criticized the test materials, a full set of which cost about $500, for being too expensive and too long. “
Geez – those excuses never worked for me in school!
A follow up meeting with Witnesses drew these amazing statements:
Christopher Hornick, consultant who competes with the company who created and administrated the New Haven tests who “had not “seen the job analysis data,” told the CSB that the scores indicated a “relatively high adverse impact.”
Janet Helms, a Boston College Professor whose publication list you must see to believe, claimed her primary area of expertise was “race and culture as they influence performance on tests and other assessment procedures….expressly declined the CSB’s offer to review the examinations. At the outset, she noted that “regardless of what kind of written test we give in this country . . . we can just about predict how many people will pass who are members of under-represented groups.”
Justice Scalia said it best in his separate opinion:
“[The]…resolution of this dispute merely postpones the evil day on which the Court will have to confront the question: Whether, or to what extent, are the disparate-impact provisions of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 consistent with the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection?”
Justice Alito Nails the real issue in his separate opinion (emphasis mine)
“… the City’s asserted reason for scrapping its test—concern about disparate-impact liability—was a pretext and that the City’s real reason was illegitimate, namely, the desire to placate a politically important racial constituency.”
He then blasts the dissenting Judges with this missive (bold mine)
“The dissent grants that petitioners’ situation is “unfortunate” and that they “understandably attract this Court’s sympathy.” Post, at 1, 39. But “sympathy” is not what petitioners have a right to demand. What they have a right to demand is evenhanded enforcement of the law—of Title VII’s prohibition against discrimination based on race. And that is what, until today’s decision, has been denied them.”
The Dissenting liberal gang (Ginsburg, Souter, Stevens and Breyer drone on at length with racial population statistics, and avoid ENTIRELY the issue that it could be that OTHER factors than race could have produced the test results. They blame the access to study materials were based on race. They even tuck in a 9/11 reference – folks – you just can’t make this stuff up!
This is why Presidential ELECTIONS MATTER. The President selects Justices for LIFE and the SENATE confirms them – we need to ensure we maintain a balanced view in both branches of government to maintain our country’s LEGAL SANITY!
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