Ricci v. DeStefano

June 29, 2009

In a lawsuit brought against the city of New Haven, 18 plaintiffs—17 white and 1 Hispanic—argued that lieutenant and captain exam results from 2003 were tossed out when it was found out that very few minority firefighters were capable for improvement. The city claimed they threw out the results because they feared liability under a disparate-impact statute for issuing tests that discriminated against minority firefighters. The plaintiffs claimed that they were victims of reverse discrimination under the Civil Rights Act. The Supreme Court decided in favor of the firefighters, saying New Haven's "action in discarding the tests was a violation of" the Civil Rights Act.