LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT ALERT
Special Edition July 2009

U.S. Supreme Court Rules on "Reverse Discrimination" Issue

The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a landmark decision on the issue of "reverse discrimination." In Ricci v. DeStefano, the Court sided with a group of 17 white and one Hispanic firefighter who brought suit against the City of New Haven, Connecticut after the City discarded the results of a racially-neutral promotion exam. After the white employees scored higher than black employees, the City concluded that too few minority firefighters scored high enough to be considered for promotions. The City decided that if it left the results of the test in place, it would face lawsuits from minority firefighters who may claim that, based on the obvious disparity in results, the examinations were in fact not race-neutral.

The Court held that by eliminating the test results in this manner the City had actually discriminated against the white firefighters because of their race, and in so doing, violated anti-discrimination laws. The Court noted that fear of the lawsuits was not enough of a justification for its race based action.

The case stands for the proposition that an employer may not violate the disparate treatment provisions of Title VII in an effort to avoid liability for the disparate impact of the employer's policies unless there is a "strong basis in evidence" that a violation of one of these principles will ensure compliance with the other. The standard that an employer must meet to justify the "strong basis in evidence" is very high. This case is also a rare example of a case that holds in favor of an unprotected class, in a case of "reverse discrimination."

The Supreme Court's Decision can be found at: http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&navby=case&vol=000&invol=07-1428.

Minimum Wage to Increase July 24, 2009

Effective July 24, 2009, the minimum wage will increase to $7.25 per hour under Florida and Federal Law. Employers are reminded to adjust the minimum wage paid to its employees by this deadline. For more information, please review the Agency for Workforce Innovation's website at: http://www.floridajobs.org/minimumwage/index.htm.

Past Issues of SLF Labor and Employment Alert Posted on Website

You may view past issues of the SLF Labor and Employment Alert on the “Publications” page.

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