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Ricci v. Destefano

March 18, 2009

NAACP Legal Defense Fund Files Brief In New Haven Firefighter Discrimination Supreme Court Case

(New York, NY) – On Wednesday, March 25th, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) filed a friend-of-the-court brief in an important Supreme Court case regarding an employer's ability to take steps to avoid discriminating against its minority employees.

The lawsuit, Ricci v. DeStefano, involves a decision by the City of New Haven to temporarily suspend promotions within its Fire Department after it identified serious concerns regarding the fairness of the process for black and Latino employees. Based on the examination results, no African Americans would have been eligible to fill any of the available positions. In addition to the significant adverse impact on minority candidates, public hearings revealed serious flaws in the tests' ability to select the most qualified candidates for promotion. The City decided to evaluate other promotional processes that could select captains and lieutenants more fairly and effectively. In response, the City was sued by white firefighters claiming that the City's actions violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

LDF filed a brief in support of the City of New Haven, arguing that given the persistence of racial discrimination in New Haven and other fire departments nationwide, employers like the New Haven Fire Department must be permitted to investigate and modify their employment practices when it appears that those practices will perpetuate discrimination. The white firefighters seek to eviscerate the Supreme Court's seminal 1971 holding in Griggs v. Duke Power Company that employment practices "cannot be maintained if they operate to 'freeze' the status quo of prior discriminatory employment practices."

In its brief, LDF draws on evidence that fire departments throughout the country, including in New Haven, have historically and notoriously denied employment to African Americans and other people of color. The brief also points out that pervasive exclusion of blacks from fire departments nationwide was a central basis for Congress's decision in 1972 to extend Title VII to cover state and local government employment. Thirty-seven years later, racial discrimination and wide-spread disparities persist, making ongoing efforts by cities like New Haven necessary if equal employment opportunity for all Americans is ever to be achieved.

"This case is about securing a level playing field for everyone, regardless of color, when it comes to promotion procedures," said John Payton, LDF President and Director-Counsel. "Employment tests that do not predict success on the job and that exclude black workers without justification should be replaced with better tests that more accurately identify qualified candidates."

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ABOUT LDF
The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF) is America's legal counsel on issues of race. Through advocacy and litigation, LDF focuses on issues of education, voter protection, economic justice and criminal justice. We encourage students to embark on careers in the public interest through scholarships and internship programs. LDF pursues racial justice to move our nation toward a society that fulfills the promise of equality for all.