Griggs v. Duke Power Co.

401 U.S. 424 (1971)

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Nature of the Case

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Facts

This proceeding was brought by a group of incumbent Black employees against D. Ps are employed at a power generating facility. The plant was organized into five operating departments: (1) Labor, (2) Coal Handling, (3) Operations, (4) Maintenance, and (5) Laboratory and Test. Blacks were employed only in the Labor Department where the highest-paying jobs paid less than the lowest-paying jobs in the other four 'operating' departments in which only whites were employed. In 1955 D instituted a policy of requiring a high school education for initial assignment to any department except Labor, and for transfer from Coal Handling to any 'inside' department. D abandoned its policy of restricting Blacks to the Labor Department in 1965. But, completion of high school also was made a prerequisite to transfer from Labor to any other department. From the time the high school requirement was instituted to the time of trial, white employees hired before the time of the high school education requirement continued to perform satisfactorily and achieve promotions in the 'operating' departments. D added a further requirement for new employees on July 2, 1965, the date on which Title VII became effective. To qualify for placement in any but the Labor Department it became necessary to register satisfactory scores on two professionally prepared aptitude tests, as well as to have a high school education. Completion of high school alone continued to render employees eligible for transfer to the four desirable departments from which Blacks had been excluded if the incumbent had been employed prior to the time of the new requirement. In September 1965 D began to permit incumbent employees who lacked a high school education to qualify for transfer from Labor or Coal Handling to an 'inside' job by passing two tests -- the Wonderlic Personnel Test, which purports to measure general intelligence, and the Bennett Mechanical Comprehension Test. Neither was directed or intended to measure the ability to learn to perform a particular job or category of jobs. The requisite scores used for both initial hiring and transfer approximated the national median for high school graduates. The District Court found that D's policy of overt racial discrimination in the period prior to the Act had ceased. The District Court also concluded that Title VII was intended to be prospective only. The Court of Appeals concluded that a subjective test of the employer's intent should govern, particularly in a close case, and that in this case there was no showing of a discriminatory purpose in the adoption of the diploma and test requirements. It held that there was no violation of the Act. There was no showing of a racial purpose or invidious intent in the adoption of the high school diploma requirement or general intelligence test and that these standards had been applied fairly to whites and Blacks alike. The Court of Appeals rejected the claim that because these two requirements operated to render ineligible a markedly disproportionate number of Blacks, they were unlawful under Title VII unless shown to be job-related. The Court of Appeals reversed the holding that residual discrimination arising from prior employment practices was insulated from remedial action. Ps appealed.