Pullman-standard, a Division of Pullman, Inc. v. Swint et al. (456 U.S. 273)
U.S. Supreme Court · decided April 27, 1982 · Supreme Court Database (Spaeth)
- Citation
- 456 U.S. 273 · 102 S. Ct. 1781
- Decided
- April 27, 1982
- Term
- October Term 1981
- Vote
- 7–2
- Majority author
- Justice White
- Issue area
- Civil Rights
- Disposition
- Reversed and remanded
- Outcome
- Petitioning party won
- Ideological direction
- Conservative
Opinion excerpt
Justice White delivered the opinion of the Court. Respondents were black employees at the Bessemer, Ala., plant of petitioner Pullman-Standard (the Company), a manufacturer of railway freight cars and parts. They brought suit against the Company and the union petitioners — the United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO-CLC, and its Local 1466 (collectively USW) — alleging violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 78 Stat. 263, as amended, 42 U. S. C. § 2000e et seq. (1976 ed. and Supp. IV), and 42 U. S. C. §1981. As they come here, these cases involve only the validity, under Title VII, of a seniority system maintained by the Company and USW. The District Court found “that the differences in terms, conditions or privileges of employment resulting [from the seniority system] are ‘not the result of an intention to discriminate’ because of race or color,” App. to Pet. for Cert. in No. 80-1190, p. A-147 (hereinafter App.), and held, therefore, that the system satisfied the requirements of § 703(h) of the Act. The Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reversed: “Because we find that the differences in the terms, conditions and standards of employment for black workers and white workers at Pullman-Standard resulted from an intent to discriminate because of race, we hold that the system is not legally valid under section 703(h) of Title VII, 42 U. S. C. 2000e-2(h).” 624…
Excerpt of a 62,401-character opinion. The full text and citation network load in the interactive viewer above.