This morning, with Justice Antonin Scalia writing a unanimous opinion, the
U.S. Supreme Court ruled in a case brought by a group of African-American
firefighter applicants who alleged that the city of Chicago’s applicant
selection process had a disparate impact on African-Americans in violation
of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Specifically, the applicants
challenged the city’s decision to exclude employment applicants who did
not achieve a certain score on an examination – but not the city’s
decision to adopt that employment practice.
