Legal Issues - The Major Affirmative Action Cases, A Digest of the Record

Legal Issues

The Major Affirmative Action Cases:
A Digest of the Record

President Kennedy first used the term "affirmative action" in a 1961 civil rights speech, but the concept goes back to 1941, when President Roosevelt issued an executive order that barred defense contractors from discriminating against minorities. President Johnson issued Executive Order 11246 in 1965, ordering federal contractors to boost their number of minority employees. In his famous Great Society Speech, Johnson stated, "You do not take a person who for years has been hobbled by chains, and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line, and then say, 'You are free to compete with all the others.'"

The Supreme Court has determined the scope and meaning of affirmative action. These are the Court's key rulings:

Griggs v. Duke Power Co. (1971) prohibited employment practices that have a discriminatory impact, as well as those intended to discriminate.

Runyon v. McCrary (1976) said a 19th century civil rights law barred racial discrimination by private parties.

Regents of the University of California v. Bakke (1978), probably the most controversial case of the 1970s, invalidated a medical school admissions plan, but permitted minority preferences.

United Steelworkers of America v. Weber (1979) upheld Kaiser Chemical Corp.'s affirmative action plan giving 50 percent of skilled jobs to blacks until black employment at the plant reflected population figures.

Fullilove v. Klutznick (1980) rejected a challenge by contractors to a federal requirement that 10 percent of the work on federal projects must go to minority firms.

Bob Jones University v. United States (1983) ruled that a university must have a racially nondiscriminatory policy with respect to students in order to maintain their tax-exempt status.

Firefighters Local Union No. 1784 v. Stotts (1984) struck down a consent decree terminating employment of some whites in order to increase the number of minority workers.

Local 28 Sheet Metal Workers v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (1986) upheld a court order imposing a goal for nonwhite union membership in light of the union's "pervasive and egregious discrimination."

Local No. 93 International Association of Firefighters AFL-CIO v. Cleveland (1986) held that a federal court could enforce a voluntary agreement to give minorities preference in hiring and promotion. The court said that under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a voluntary public sector affirmative action plan is valid when contained in a consent decree.

Wygant v. Jackson (MI) Board of Education (1986) struck down a labor agreement because it allowed for layoffs of white teachers before minority group teachers with less seniority.

Johnson v. Transportation Agency of Santa Clara, CA (1987), permitted gender to be a factor when considering promotions.

United States v. Paradise (1987). The Supreme Court ruled in a case involving the Alabama Department of Public Safety that judges may order employers to use numerical racial quotas in promotions as well as in hiring, to cure "egregious" past discrimination against blacks.

City of Richmond v. J. A. Croson Co. (1989) disallowed the city's set-aside plan requiring that 30 percent of subcontracts go to minority-owned firms.

Martin v. Wilks (1989), a case involving the Birmingham (AL) fire department, made it easier to challenge settlements establishing affirmative action plans.

Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Antonio (1989) imposed tougher standards on employees trying to prove discrimination through the use of statistics.

Patterson v. McClean Union (1989) affirmed an earlier ruling prohibiting discrimination in the private sector, but also held that a Reconstruction era law does not ban racial harassment in the workplace.

Metro Broadcasting, Inc. v. Federal Communications Commission (1990) upheld minority broadcast licensing preferences because they promoted the objective of broadcast diversity.

United States v. Fordice (1992) ruled that the adoption of race-neutral policies alone does not fulfill a state's affirmative obligation to disestablish a prior de jure segregated university system.

Adarand Constructors v. Peña (1995) held that racial classifications established by Congress must be analyzed under the strict scrutiny standard that applies to state and local governments, and the remedy must be narrowly tailored.

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Last Modified: May 22, 2002