United Steelworkers v. Weber
Encyclopedia
United Steelworkers of America v. Weber, 443 U.S. 193
(1979), was a case regarding affirmative action
in which the United States Supreme Court
held that the Civil Rights Act of 1964
did not bar employers from favoring women and minorities. The Court's decision reversed lower courts' rulings in favor of Brian Weber whose lawsuit beginning in 1974 challenged his employer's hiring practices.
Title VII. The company and the union argued it was pursuing affirmative action to remedy historical disadvantages among blacks.
did not prohibit all kinds of affirmative action programmes. They held that the plan of affirmative action must first be transitional in nature and serve in fact to correct situations of imbalance by restoring equality at the starting point and should not set out to reproduce them artificially even when the effects of past discrimination have been wiped out. An affirmative action plan has to be (1) necessary (2) aiming to correct a statistical imbalance (3) not result in an absolute bar to hiring non-minority people (4) temporary, with an end date or goal (5) allow flexibility for hiring non-minorities.
Chief Justice Burger, dissenting, said he might vote for this if he were a member of Congress, but he was not and the Civil Rights Act 1964 Title VII explicitly prohibited this form of discrimination. Not having affirmative action was agreed to be the position when the Act was passed. He finished by quoting Benjamin Cardozo, The Nature of Judicial Process (1921) 141, warning to beware of the ‘good result’ and judges exceeding their authority to get it.
Justice Rehnquist dissented. He quoted George Orwell
, Nineteen Eighty-four
(1949) 181, where in a sudden jump, mid sentence, the government declares war on Eastasia instead, without blinking, and said this was like the approach to interpretation of the majority.
He cited two Senators explaining precisely that the Bill would not require a deliberate attempt to maintain a racial balance, because that would be recruiting on the basis of race, which would be unlawful.
Case citation
Case citation is the system used in many countries to identify the decisions in past court cases, either in special series of books called reporters or law reports, or in a 'neutral' form which will identify a decision wherever it was reported...
(1979), was a case regarding affirmative action
Affirmative action
Affirmative action refers to policies that take factors including "race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or national origin" into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group, usually as a means to counter the effects of a history of discrimination.-Origins:The term...
in which the United States Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
held that the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation...
did not bar employers from favoring women and minorities. The Court's decision reversed lower courts' rulings in favor of Brian Weber whose lawsuit beginning in 1974 challenged his employer's hiring practices.
Facts
Brian Weber was 32 years old, and worked as a laboratory assistant at a chemical plant. His company, Kaiser Aluminum and Chemical Corp, had a policy of allowing whites and blacks into a training program on a one to one basis, even though there were many more whites than blacks. This came from a collective agreement with United Steelworkers of America. Brian did not get in. More training would have led to a pay raise. Brian claimed this violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation...
Title VII. The company and the union argued it was pursuing affirmative action to remedy historical disadvantages among blacks.
Judgment
Lower and federal courts supported Weber's claim that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 banned all forms of racial discrimination in employment whether against blacks or whites.Supreme Court
By five to two the Supreme Court held that the affirmative action plan was lawful. The majority (Brennan, Stewart, White, Marshall and Blackmun JJ) held that the Civil Rights Act of 1964Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark piece of legislation in the United States that outlawed major forms of discrimination against African Americans and women, including racial segregation...
did not prohibit all kinds of affirmative action programmes. They held that the plan of affirmative action must first be transitional in nature and serve in fact to correct situations of imbalance by restoring equality at the starting point and should not set out to reproduce them artificially even when the effects of past discrimination have been wiped out. An affirmative action plan has to be (1) necessary (2) aiming to correct a statistical imbalance (3) not result in an absolute bar to hiring non-minority people (4) temporary, with an end date or goal (5) allow flexibility for hiring non-minorities.
Chief Justice Burger, dissenting, said he might vote for this if he were a member of Congress, but he was not and the Civil Rights Act 1964 Title VII explicitly prohibited this form of discrimination. Not having affirmative action was agreed to be the position when the Act was passed. He finished by quoting Benjamin Cardozo, The Nature of Judicial Process (1921) 141, warning to beware of the ‘good result’ and judges exceeding their authority to get it.
Justice Rehnquist dissented. He quoted George Orwell
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair , better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English author and journalist...
, Nineteen Eighty-four
Nineteen Eighty-Four
Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell is a dystopian novel about Oceania, a society ruled by the oligarchical dictatorship of the Party...
(1949) 181, where in a sudden jump, mid sentence, the government declares war on Eastasia instead, without blinking, and said this was like the approach to interpretation of the majority.
He cited two Senators explaining precisely that the Bill would not require a deliberate attempt to maintain a racial balance, because that would be recruiting on the basis of race, which would be unlawful.
See also
- List of United States Supreme Court cases, volume 443
- Griggs v. Duke Power Co.Griggs v. Duke Power Co.Griggs v. Duke Power Co., , was a court case argued before the United States Supreme Court on December 14, 1970. It concerned employment discrimination and the disparate impact theory and was decided on March 8, 1971...
- Ricci v. DeStefanoRicci v. DeStefanoRicci v. DeStefano, 129 S. Ct. 2658, 2671, 174 L. Ed. 2d 490 is a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States arising from a lawsuit brought against the city of New Haven, Connecticut by twenty city firefighters alleging that the city discriminated against them with regard to promotions...
- Piscataway v. TaxmanPiscataway v. TaxmanPiscataway School Board v. Taxman, 91 F.3d 1547 was a racial discrimination case that began in 1989. The school board of Piscataway, New Jersey needed to eliminate a teaching position from a high schools Business Education department. Under New Jersey state law, tenured teachers have to be laid...
External links
- Text of the decision at findlaw.com. Accessed Jan. 29, 2007.
- Herndon, Randolph K. "The Presence of State Action in United Steelworkers v. Weber." Duke Law Journal. Vol. 1980, No. 6. (Dec., 1980), pp. 1172–1200. Accessed Jan. 29, 2007.
- Oyez: United Steelworkers of America v. Weber Accessed Nov. 3, 2007.