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Tests and Employment Discrimination.

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Tests and Employment Discrimination.
Authors: Reutter, E. Edmund, Columbia Univ., New York, NY. Inst. of Administrative Research.
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 5
Publication Date: 1975
Document Type: Reports - Research
Descriptors: Certification, Civil Rights, Court Litigation, Educational Administration, Employment Patterns, Employment Practices, Employment Qualifications, Federal Courts, Intelligence Tests, Racial Discrimination, Screening Tests, Supervisor Qualifications, Supreme Court Litigation, Test Bias
Geographic Terms: New York (New York), North Carolina
Abstract: In March of 1971, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that "if an employment practice which operates to exclude Negroes cannot be shown to be related to job performance, the practice is prohibited." Although the decided case concerned discrimination on the basis of race, the act also bars discrimination because of religion, sex, or national origin. The instant case was brought as a class action by black employees of a North Carolina plant of the privately owned Duke Power Company. Some four months after this Supreme Court decision, a Federal District Court issued an injunction halting the use in the New York City school system of certain examinations as a basis for appointment to supervisory or administrative posts. This court, although noting "Griggs vs. Duke Power Company", based its ruling on constitutional grounds. At the time the suit was instituted, obtaining a permanent supervisory position required not only meeting State certification requirements but also obtaining a City license. The latter was attainable only on passing an examination prepared by the Board of Examiners. Plaintiffs were a black and a Puerto Rican, both of whom had State Certificates, met educational and experience requirements of the City Board, and were serving as acting principals of elementary schools. (Author/JM)
Entry Date: 1975
Accession Number: ED107733
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:In March of 1971, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that "if an employment practice which operates to exclude Negroes cannot be shown to be related to job performance, the practice is prohibited." Although the decided case concerned discrimination on the basis of race, the act also bars discrimination because of religion, sex, or national origin. The instant case was brought as a class action by black employees of a North Carolina plant of the privately owned Duke Power Company. Some four months after this Supreme Court decision, a Federal District Court issued an injunction halting the use in the New York City school system of certain examinations as a basis for appointment to supervisory or administrative posts. This court, although noting "Griggs vs. Duke Power Company", based its ruling on constitutional grounds. At the time the suit was instituted, obtaining a permanent supervisory position required not only meeting State certification requirements but also obtaining a City license. The latter was attainable only on passing an examination prepared by the Board of Examiners. Plaintiffs were a black and a Puerto Rican, both of whom had State Certificates, met educational and experience requirements of the City Board, and were serving as acting principals of elementary schools. (Author/JM)