Justices rule in favor of white firefighters in bias case
The Supreme Court ruled that white firefighters in New Haven, Conn., were unfairly denied promotions because of their race, reversing a decision that high court nominee Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as an appeals court judge. New Haven was wrong to scrap a promotion exam because few minorities were likely to be made lieutenants or captains based on the results. The ruling could change employment practices in the U.S. It could potentially limit the circumstances in which employers can be held liable for decisions when there is no evidence of intentional discrimination against minorities. Sotomayor has been criticized for producing a cursory opinion that failed to deal with “indisputably complex and far from well-settled” questions.