FACTOID # 64: Sri Lanka has lowest divorce rate in the world - and the highest rate of female suicide.
 
 Home   Encyclopedia   Statistics   Countries A-Z   Flags   Maps   Education   Forum   FAQ   About 
 
 
 
WHAT'S NEW
RECENT ARTICLES
More Recent Articles »
 

SEARCH ALL

FACTS & STATISTICS    Advanced view

Search encyclopedia, statistics and forums:

 

 

(* = Graphable)

 

 


Encyclopedia > Griggs v. Duke Power Co.
Griggs v. Duke Power Co.
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued December 14, 1970
Decided March 8, 1971
Full case name: Griggs et al. v. Duke Power Co.
Citations: 401 U.S. 424
Prior history: Reversed in part, 420 F.2d 1225. Certiorari to the United States Court of Appeal for the Fourth Circuit, granted.
Subsequent history: 420 F.2d 1225, reversed in part.
Holding
Broad aptitude tests used in hiring practices that disparately impact ethnic minorities must be reasonably related to the job.
Court membership
Chief Justice: Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices: Hugo Black, William O. Douglas, John Marshall Harlan II, William J. Brennan, Potter Stewart, Byron White, Thurgood Marshall, Harry Blackmun
Case opinions
Majority by: Burger
Joined by: unanimous court
Brennan took no part in the consideration or decision of the case.
Laws applied
Civil Rights Act of 1964

Contents

Image File history File links Seal_of_the_United_States_Supreme_Court. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  US Government Portal      The Supreme Court of the United States (sometimes colloquially referred to by the... Warren Earl Burger (September 17, 1907 – June 25, 1995) was Chief Justice of the United States from 1969 to 1986. ... Hugo Black Hugo LaFayette Black (February 27, 1886 – September 25, 1971) was a Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (1937 - 1971). ... William Orville Douglas (October 16, 1898 – January 19, 1980) was a United States Supreme Court Associate Justice. ... John Marshall Harlan II (May 20, 1899 – December 29, 1971) was an American jurist. ... William J. Brennan, official portrait, 1976. ... Potter Stewart (January 23, 1915 – December 7, 1985) was an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. ... Byron Raymond White (June 8, 1917 – April 15, 2002) won fame both as a football running back and as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. ... Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American jurist and the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. ... Justice Harry Blackmun Harry Andrew Blackmun (November 12, 1908 – March 4, 1999) was an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1970 to 1994. ... President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964. ...

Introduction

Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424 (1971), was a court case argued before the United States Supreme Court on December 14, 1970. It concerned employment discrimination and was decided on March 8, 1971. // The United States Reports, the official reporter of the Supreme Court of the United States Case citation is the system used in common law countries such as the United States, England and Wales, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Australia and India to uniquely identify the location of past court... Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries Atlas  US Government Portal      The Supreme Court of the United States (sometimes colloquially referred to by the... is the 348th day of the year (349th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1970 ([[Rf 1970 == January 1 - The Unix epoch begins at 00:00:00 UTC January 2 - The last studio performance of The Beatles oman numerals|MCMLXX]]) was a common year starting on Thursday (link shows full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Employment discrimination refers to employment practices that are prohibited by law such as bias in hiring, promotion, job assignment, termination, compensation, and various types of harassment. ... is the 67th day of the year (68th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1971 (MCMLXXI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar) of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. ...


Prior History

Prior to the passage of the Civil Rights Act, Duke Power had openly used methods of segregating employees according to race; specifically, at its Dan River plant, blacks were only allowed to work in its Labor department, which constituted the lowest-paying positions in the company. After the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, the company changed its policies, expanding its requirement of a high school diploma for positions in areas other than the Labor department, which eliminated a large number of black applicants for those positions. Segregation means separation. ... A high school diploma is a diploma awarded for the completion of high school. ...


Case

The Court ruled against a procedure used by the company when selecting employees for internal transfer and promotion to certain positions, namely requiring a high school education and certain scores on broad aptitude tests. African-American applicants, less likely to hold a high school diploma and averaging lower scores on the aptitude tests, were selected at a much lower rate for these positions compared to white candidates. Languages Predominantly American English Religions Protestantism (chiefly Baptist and Methodist); Roman Catholicism; Islam Related ethnic groups Sub-Saharan Africans and other African groups, some with Native American groups. ... The term white American (often used interchangeably and incorrectly with Caucasian American[2] and within the United States simply white[3]) is an umbrella term that refers to people of European descent residing in the United States. ...


The Court found that under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, if such tests disparately impact ethnic minority groups, businesses must demonstrate that such tests are "reasonably related" to the job for which the test is required. Because Title VII is passed pursuant to Congress's power under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, the disparate impact test later articulated by the Supreme Court in Washington v. Davis, 426 US 229 (1976) is inapplicable. (The Washington v. Davis test for disparate impact is used in constitutional equal protection clause cases while Title VII's prohibition on disparate impact is a statutory mandate.) As such, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employment tests (when used as the controlling factor in employment decisions) that are not a "reasonable measure of job performance," regardless of the absence of actual intent to discriminate. Since the aptitude tests involved (and the high school diploma required) were broad-based and not directly related to the jobs performed, Duke Power Company's employee transfer procedure was found in violation by the Court. President Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964. ... This article is about the concept of a minority. ... Washington v. ... Washington v. ... Congressman John Bingham of Ohio was the principal framer of the Equal Protection Clause. ... The Statute of Grand Duchy of Lithuania A statute is a formal, written law of a country or state, written and enacted by its legislative authority, perhaps to then be ratified by the highest executive in the government, and finally published. ...


Subsequent History

Griggs also held that the employer has the burden of producing and proving the business necessity of any testing. However, in 1989, in Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Atonio, 490 U.S. 642, 657 (1989), the Court reduced the employer's burden to only producing evidence of business justification. In 1991, Congress amended The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and overturned that portion of the Wards Cove decision. Holding To determine whether a disparate-impact case exists, compare racial composition of the at-issue jobs and the racial composition of the qualified population in the relevant labor market. ...


See also

This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... This is a list of all the United States Supreme Court cases from volume 401 of the United States Reports: , In re Stolar, Younger v. ...

External links

  • Oyez.com summary
  • FindLaw.com article
  • Griggs v. Duke Power Co. Decision

  Results from FactBites:
 
Smith v. Jackson, Mississippi (10959 words)
Duke Power Co., 401 U.S., which announced a disparate-impact theory of recovery for cases brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII).
Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. (1971), for cases brought under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, is cognizable under the ADEA.
Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. Finally, the agencies charged with administering the ADEA have never authoritatively construed the statute’s prohibitory language to impose disparate impact liability.
  More results at FactBites »


 
 

COMMENTARY     


Share your thoughts, questions and commentary here
Your name
Your comments

Want to know more?
Search encyclopedia, statistics and forums:

 


Lesson Plans | Student Area | Student FAQ | Reviews | Press Releases |  Feeds | Contact
The Wikipedia article included on this page is licensed under the GFDL.
Images may be subject to relevant owners' copyright.
All other elements are (c) copyright NationMaster.com 2003-5. All Rights Reserved.
Usage implies agreement with terms, 1022, m