NJ Labor And Employment Law

The New Jersey Labor and Employment Law Blog is authored by Jay S. Becker and Joseph C. DeBlasio, shareholders in the Labor and Employment Law Practice Group, with support from the associates in the Group. It is dedicated to provide news and updates regarding all labor and employment matters throughout New Jersey.

U.S. Supreme Court Broadens Statute of Limitations for Disparate Impact Claims

May 24, 2010 | No Comments
Posted by admin

Today the Supreme Court of the United States issued an important decision pertaining to the applicable statute of limitations for a claim of disparate impact discrimination (discriminatory impact without the intent to discriminate) under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.  In Lewis v. City of Chicago, the Court declared that the statute of limitations is to be measured from the employer’s adoption of an employment practice and each use of that practice.  For instance, if an employer issues a written test which is facially neutral but has a discriminatory impact on a class of employees due to race, gender or other protected characteristic, each subsequent use of the test results will restart the statute of limitations.

In Lewis, the City of Chicago administered a written test to applicants seeking to become firefighters.  The test itself allegedly had a statistically discriminatory impact upon African-American applicants.  The City used the results of the test in its hiring of new firefighters approximately 10 times over the following six years.  A class of African-American applicants filed a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, alleging the test was unlawful in that it caused a disparate impact upon the pool of minority applicants.  Specifically, 36% of the applicants were African-American, but white employees were approximately five times more likely to score in the highest range of “well qualified.”

A charge of discrimination must be brought within 300 days of the discriminatory conduct.  This charge was filed more than 400 days after the applicants received notice of the results.  However, the Supreme Court determined that each time the scores were used by the City to hire a new applicant, the 300-day period to file a charge of discrimination was renewed.  This decision saved the applicants’ claim and rendered it timely filed.

This case is an important reminder to employers that even business activities, which are not motivated by discriminatory intent, sometimes can lead to discriminatory results.  All employers should monitor their practices to see if they have a tendency to result in a discriminatory impact upon a protected class of employees.  Questionable practices should be changed unless they are job-related or required by business necessity.

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