Marble Industries hired virtually all of its employees from Union High School, which was overwhelmingly white in its racial makeup. Accordingly, there were virtually no nonwhite employees employed by Marble Industries. The work these employees performed

Question

was work that any reasonably capable high school graduate could do. When organizations representing nonwhites questioned the policy, the personnel director indicated that Union High School graduates were hired because they had worked successfully for the company and because the president of the company had graduated from that school. There was no evidence that there was any plan or intention to discriminate against nonwhites. Discuss the possibility that this policy may violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

Answer 1

?Although this hiring policy is facially neutral and not intended to discriminate, it may nevertheless violate the law on the theory of disparate impact. In a disparate impact case, where an apparently neutral policy has a significantly adverse or disparate impact on a protected group, the practice may be unlawful unless it is "job related" and consistent with "business necessity." Here, because any reasonably qualified high school graduate could perform the tasks, the employer may be required to hire from places other than the overwhelmingly white Union High School.