UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF CHICAGO Et Al., Defendants-Appellees

573 F.2d 416, 16 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 908, 1978 U.S. App. LEXIS 12518, 16 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 8141
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit
DecidedFebruary 21, 1978
Docket77-1171
StatusPublished
Cited by64 cases

This text of 573 F.2d 416 (UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF CHICAGO Et Al., Defendants-Appellees) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. CITY OF CHICAGO Et Al., Defendants-Appellees, 573 F.2d 416, 16 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 908, 1978 U.S. App. LEXIS 12518, 16 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 8141 (7th Cir. 1978).

Opinion

FAIRCHILD, Chief Judge.

This is an appeal by appellant United States of America from a decision of the district court holding that certain practices of appellees City of Chicago, et al. are not in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., as amended by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972. For the reasons hereinafter stated, we reverse and remand for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.

I. BACKGROUND

This action was brought by the United States to challenge certain promotion and transfer policies of the Chicago Fire Department, which allegedly discriminated against blacks and Hispanics. 1 Promotions in the Fire Department are based upon performance on written promotional examinations administered by the Chicago Civil Service Commission, efficiency ratings by supervisory personnel in the Fire Department, and seniority. After the written examinations are graded by the Civil Service Commission, the Commission publishes an eligibility list which ranks candidates on the basis of written test score (weighted 60%), efficiency rating test score (weighted 30%), and seniority (weighted 10%). Candidates with a composite score of 70 or above are placed on' an eligibility list. It is undisputed that virtually all applicants receive the maximum points awardable for seniority. Variability in composite score is therefore attributable almost entirely to the. written examinations and the efficiency rating tests.

After an eligibility list for a particular position has been published, it is used until there are no more names on the list or until a new examination has been developed. Individuals are promoted as vacancies occur according to their respective composite scores on the eligibility list, i. e., individuals with the highest composite scores are promoted first. The government contends that these promotion procedures discriminate against blacks and Hispanics and therefore violate Title VII.

Seventeen eligibility lists based on seventeen examinations have been prepared since 1960. 2 For the purposes of this appeal, however, the government is challenging eight tests administered during this period for selection of engineers, lieutenants, and captains. Of these eight tests, only three are presently posted; the examination for engineer given in 1969; the examination for lieutenant given in 1970; and the examination given for captain in 1973. Moreover, only one of these tests — the 1973 captain’s exam, was given after Title VII became applicable to the City of Chicago on March 24, 1972. Although the 1969 engineer’s exam and the 1970 lieutenant’s exam were administered before the City became subject to Title VII, current promotions, of course, would occur after the effective date of the Act.

The government has also challenged the assignment and transfer policies of the Fire Department. These policies, the government asserts, operate to confine blacks to unit locations in black neighborhoods and exclude blacks from certain specialized function units of the department.

*420 II. THE DECISION OF THE DISTRICT COURT

The district court found that appellant United States had met its burden of demonstrating that three written promotional examinations which are presently in effect had an adverse impact on blacks. 3 The district court further found, however, that appellees had demonstrated that the tests were job-related and therefore held that the tests did not violate Title VII. The efficiency ratings used by appellees were also found by the district court not to violate Title VII. Finally, the district court held that the transfer and assignment policy of appellees did not constitute a Title VII violation.

Having determined that none of the challenged practices was unlawful, the district court rejected various forms of relief requested by appellants such as a quota system for promotions, a ban on the use of any efficiency ratings until approved by appellants or the court, and involuntary assignments of certain Fire Department employees to redress the allegedly discriminatory assignment and transfer policies of appellees. The district court also refused to issue a permanent injunction prohibiting further promotions based on the results of current eligibility lists.

The district court did, however, order that appellees: (1) apply the E.E.O.C. Guidelines concerning the use of efficiency ratings; 4 (2) furnish to appellant a copy of the validation study of any written examination to be used for making promotions at least 30 days prior to its use and that any such validation study conform to relevant E.E.O.C. Guidelines; and (3) post all vacancies simultaneously in each firehouse for a period of at least 30 days before such vacancies are filled and post a transfer order in each fire station indicating relevant background information of each person transferred.

While this appeal was pending, the appellant filed a motion in this court for an injunction pending appeal enjoining appellees from making any permanent promotions based on the 1969 engineer’s exam and the 1970 lieutenant’s exam. This court concluded that appellant had established a probability of success on the merits and therefore temporarily enjoined permanent promotions based on the two examinations in question pending appeal. Temporary assignments of persons to the rank of engineer and lieutenant were permitted. Appellants did not seek to enjoin permanent promotions to captain pending appeal and therefore promotions to captain were excluded from the injunction.

On this appeal, appellant vigorously contends that the district court erred in holding that the tests were properly validated and that the assignment and transfer policies were nondiscriminatory. Appellant further urges this court to fashion appropriate remedies to correct the effects of the allegedly discriminatory promotion and assignment transfer policies. Appellees, on the other hand, argue primarily that the holding of the district court should be affirmed because there has been no showing of intentional discrimination and therefore no violation of Title VII is possible, an argument not passed upon by the district court. Appellees also argue that even if no showing of intentional discrimination is required, the district court correctly determined that no violations of Title VII had been proven.

III. WHETHER A SHOWING OF INTENTIONAL DISCRIMINATION IS REQUIRED

In Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424, 91 S.Ct. 849, 28 L.Ed.2d 158 (1971), and Albemarle Paper Co. v. Moody, 422 U.S. 405, 95 S.Ct. 2362,45 L.Ed.2d 280 (1972), the Supreme Court articulated the governing principles for establishing a violation under *421 Title VII. These cases make clear that to establish a prima facie

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Navarro v. UIC Medical Center
165 F. Supp. 2d 785 (N.D. Illinois, 2001)
Anderson v. State University Of New York
169 F.3d 117 (Second Circuit, 1999)
Larry v. Board of Trustees of University of Alabama
996 F. Supp. 1366 (N.D. Alabama, 1998)
Sanchez v. City of Santa Ana
928 F. Supp. 1494 (C.D. California, 1995)
Billish v. City of Chicago
962 F.2d 1269 (Seventh Circuit, 1992)
Chicago Fire Fighters Union Local No. 2 v. Washington
736 F. Supp. 923 (N.D. Illinois, 1990)
Cox v. City of Chicago
700 F. Supp. 921 (N.D. Illinois, 1988)
Zamlen v. City of Cleveland
686 F. Supp. 631 (N.D. Ohio, 1988)
Thomas v. City of Evanston
610 F. Supp. 422 (N.D. Illinois, 1985)
Police Officers for Equal Rights v. CITY OF COL.
644 F. Supp. 393 (S.D. Ohio, 1985)
National Educ. Ass'n of RI v. Garrahy
598 F. Supp. 1374 (D. Rhode Island, 1984)
United States v. City of Yonkers
609 F. Supp. 1281 (S.D. New York, 1984)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
573 F.2d 416, 16 Fair Empl. Prac. Cas. (BNA) 908, 1978 U.S. App. LEXIS 12518, 16 Empl. Prac. Dec. (CCH) 8141, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-of-america-plaintiff-appellant-v-city-of-chicago-et-al-ca7-1978.