Recently the United States Supreme Court unanimously ruled on an employment matter. Lewis v. City of Chicago, No. 08-974, __ U.S. __ (May 24, 2010), available at http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/09pdf/08-974.pdf. The Court held that a plaintiff who failed to file a timely charge of discrimination challenging the adoption of a discriminatory practice could still assert a disparate impact claim by timely challenging the employer’s later application of that practice.
Chicago administered a test to firefighter applicants. While it deemed applicants who scored over 65 (out of 100) to be “qualified,” it elected to fill open positions by selecting from those “well-qualified” candidates who scored 89 or above. Six African-American “qualified” plaintiffs challenged this practice, alleging that it had a disparate impact on minorities. The Court looked to the language of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It concluded that a disparate impact claim can be established if the employer “uses” an employment practice that causes a disparate impact. This includes the application of a discriminatory practice, even if the adoption of that practice went unchallenged.
The Court noted that this holding could lead to practical problems for employers since lawsuits could be filed years after a practice is adopted, but the Court concluded that it was bound to give effect to the law Congress enacted. For more information regarding federal and Texas employment laws, please contact the Dallas employment lawyers of Clouse Dunn Khoshbin LLP at [email protected].
