Arthur L. Lewis, JR., et al. v. City of Chicago, Illinois (560 U.S. 205)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided May 24, 2010 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 560 U.S. 205 · 130 S. Ct. 2191
- Decided
- May 24, 2010
- Term
- October Term 2009
- Vote
- 9–0
- Majority author
- Justice Scalia
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Liberal
Opinion excerpt
Justice Scalia delivered the opinion of the Court. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from using employment practices that cause a disparate impact on the basis of race (among other bases). 42 U. S. C. §2000e-2(k)(l)(A)(i). It also requires plaintiffs, before beginning a federal lawsuit, to file a timely charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). §2000e-5(e)(l). We consider whether a plaintiff who does not file a timely charge challenging the adoption of a practice — here, an employer's decision to exclude employment applicants who did not achieve a certain score on an examination — may assert a disparate-impact claim in a timely charge challenging the employer’s later application of that practice. I In July 1995, the city of Chicago (City) administered a written examination to over 26,000 applicants seeking to serve in the Chicago Fire Department. After scoring the examinations, the City reported the results. It announced in a January 26,1996, press release that it would begin drawing randomly from the top tier of scorers, i. e., those who scored 89 or above (out of 100), whom the City called “well qualified.” Those drawn from this group would proceed to the next phase — a physical-abilities test, background check, medical examination, and drug test — and if they cleared those hurdles would be hired as…
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