New Haven administered a test for promotion, and after it didn't get the results it wanted, threw out the test; so the individuals who took the test and should have been promoted were not. Those individuals (Ricci) were wronged. However, if New Haven had promoted those individuals and simply changed its promotion policies the next year, it would have been fine. The key is that once a process is in motion, you can't undo it in order to achieve a racial mix.
In the case of Texas, applicants to the student body all apply understanding what the criteria are, and they don't change midway through the process. If Texas has its 10% policy for Fall 2009 applicants, but doesn't get enough minorities, throws out all the applications and orders people to reapply under some new policy within the same year, THEN they may have an issue.
-- Alcibiades
(To reply, click here)
Alcibiades, I think you touch on an important point of this case that may actually have nothing to do with race at all. When one applies for a job or to a university, the employer or university is responsible for providing transparent criteria for the selection of their employees/students. To do otherwise (or to change the criteria after the applications have been completed) is a bit like fraud.
-- gummybrain
(To reply, click here)
The city, had it let those test results stand in this case, would simply have faced a different lawsuit quite possibly. I do think that two questions need to be answered: what is the direct relevance of the written test to the job at hand and are some of the questions on the test aimed to favor one racial group or another? There are plenty of books out there on how to study for firefighter's exams; I've seen them on bookstore shelves. Assuming they reflect the content of the tests, it is difficult to see how they would discriminate on the basis of race. Theoretically, they are totally job-oriented. In that case, the relevance of the test to the job is a serious question. Do people who score higher fight fires better? And how would one prove that?
-- Marik7
(To reply, click here)
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New Haven administered a test for promotion, and after it didn't get the results it wanted, threw out the test; so the individuals who took the test and should have been promoted were not. Those individuals (Ricci) were wronged. However, if New Haven had promoted those individuals and simply changed its promotion policies the next year, it would have been fine. The key is that once a process is in motion, you can't undo it in order to achieve a racial mix.
In the case of Texas, applicants to the student body all apply understanding what the criteria are, and they don't change midway through the process. If Texas has its 10% policy for Fall 2009 applicants, but doesn't get enough minorities, throws out all the applications and orders people to reapply under some new policy within the same year, THEN they may have an issue.
-- Alcibiades
(To reply, click here)
Alcibiades, I think you touch on an important point of this case that may actually have nothing to do with race at all. When one applies for a job or to a university, the employer or university is responsible for providing transparent criteria for the selection of their employees/students. To do otherwise (or to change the criteria after the applications have been completed) is a bit like fraud.
-- gummybrain
(To reply, click here)
The city, had it let those test results stand in this case, would simply have faced a different lawsuit quite possibly. I do think that two questions need to be answered: what is the direct relevance of the written test to the job at hand and are some of the questions on the test aimed to favor one racial group or another? There are plenty of books out there on how to study for firefighter's exams; I've seen them on bookstore shelves. Assuming they reflect the content of the tests, it is difficult to see how they would discriminate on the basis of race. Theoretically, they are totally job-oriented. In that case, the relevance of the test to the job is a serious question. Do people who score higher fight fires better? And how would one prove that?
-- Marik7
(To reply, click here)