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Did the Supreme Court rule correctly in the New Haven firefighters case?

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Yes
84% 130 votes Total: 154 votes
No
16% 24 votes

Yes

by Carolyn Teasley

Created on: July 10, 2009   Last Updated: July 14, 2009

Did the Supreme Court Rule Correctly in the New Haven Firefighters Case?

The Supreme Court ruling of 5-4 in the 2004 discrimination suit in the white firefighters favor, was the correct ruling based on all facts presented. When the city of New Haven,Connecticut tried to throw out the test results from the 2003 promotion testing to avoid discrimination lawsuits from the black applicants, the Supreme Court ruled they were guilty of violating the Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act rights of the white applicants.

Once the test had been given, Justice Kennedy ruled that the city could not throw out the results based on the possibility of racial disparity. The Supreme Court also ruled that the racial breakdown of the test results cannot be used to invalidate an exam unless there is strong evidence of discrimination.

Instead of avoiding one lawsuit, the New Haven city officials were sued by both the blacks and latinos and the whites. In one lawsuit the blacks and latinos sued test discrimination. The whites sued the city officials for failure to adhere to the test results in awarding promotion jobs.

Title VII of the 1964 Civil Right Act applies to both public and private sector employers. It serves two main purposes:

1) To prohibit intentional discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin or gender. This is known as "disparate treatment of discrimination".

2) To prohibit a subtle form of discriminating called "disparate impact discrimination". This is when an employer has a policy that appears to be neutral but in reality has a disproportionately adverse effect on workers because of race, color or religion.

The ruling may force employers to make needed changes to future promotion testing. No one should have to deal with discrimination in the workplace based on race, regardless. In all fairness, equality should be a two way street. The ruling will help toward more widespread diversity in the workforce.

A total of 118 firefighters were tested to fill 15 open promotions to lieutenant or captain. The test was deemed valid to effectively evaluate the knowledge and skills necessary of the applicants for the open firefighter promotions. If the New Haven city officials wanted to be sure of adding diversity to the management ranks within the fire department, they should have geared the testing toward this by using a less discriminant but valid and fair test.

The need for affirmative action may become obsolete as more minorities have entered into management positions since the 1970s. More white males are beginning to feel the effects of reverse discrimination since the enactment of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Reference

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-court-firefighters30-2009jun30,0,5518944

Learn more about this author, Carolyn Teasley.
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No

by Diane Majett

Created on: July 10, 2009   Last Updated: July 15, 2009

As we leap into our faith in a system, I have to ask myself if the climate is one that is conducive to the growth of all the parties involved as a whole, and then I'll add that I'm really saying no because I don't really have all the facts enough to make a positive decision on it. When I have to make a spir of the moment decision, I kinda like to stir the pot, and nothing can be more harmful then moving too fast positively on anything and then wishing that you had made an other determination which its to late to retract.

I also am saying it because I want to stir the pot a little and prove that on either side of the issue, I can show why either side has a position and its only wrong depending on who you are. But let me try to be a little more ruley, and not take up my cross so much that I'm turning over money changers in the church like my boy Christ said to do, like he did.

The decision was to dissolve the claim that there was favoritism being used, and therefore the cause of their being a biased accusation of other applicants, who may have not been able to do as well as expected. The passive side of me would say, well if there is a claim as to how someone else feels about something, no one can tell him if he is feeling descriminated against. Its always contestable and none the less personally yours to consider to the highest degree that you want. But proving it is an entirely different case, as well as getting someone else to believe it enough to go along with you at all costs.

The rough and defense to my position side would say that, the evidence speaks for itself and must be considered ethically, that there may have been a cheat sheet, a class that's not offered to the other applicants, and therefore a cause to show reasonable doubt that there is something not particularly correct with the outcome. So is it incumbent upon the defense to devulge what may be their dark little secret of how they say in the hood, "How you get a record deal", the burden of proof is on the plantiff to get the facts despite the evidence that the fact remains existent.

And to go so far as to say that there was a ruling made that was correct, the answer could very well be yes, but my position of no is because I am sympathetic, and hopeful that taking this stand will make it a point to consider that other people would like to be responsible for the lives of people in fire departments. I mean really, do you want just let's say, a particular person or a mix of it may be anyone who has your life in their hands at a time as such. I'm speaking as someone who wants to see a variety of everything everywhere so don't take offense to my stand, just turn that money changer table over where the oracles of God are not the seeded growth, I'm taking up my cross and following the good side of it all.

Learn more about this author, Diane Majett.
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