Opinion ID: 772395
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: The Validity of the County's Affirmative Action Plans

Text: 72 Ordinarily, if a defendant were found to have acted pursuant to an affirmative action plan, the next question would be whether the plan was valid under Title VII. The validity of the plan would then be determined under the following test: 73 We must first determine whether the [government employer's] consideration of the race of promotional candidates was justified by a manifest racial imbalance that reflected under-representation of [the affirmative action plan's beneficiaries] in traditionally segregated job categories. . . . If such a justification was present when the plan was developed, we must then determine whether the plan itself provides a proper remedy for that imbalance. A remedy is proper if the plan does not unnecessarily trammel the rights of non-black employees or create an absolute bar to their advancement. 74 In re Birmingham Reverse Discrimination Employment Litig., 20 F.3d 1525, 1537 (11th Cir. 1994) (citing Johnson, 480 U.S. at 632, 637, 107 S. Ct. at 1452, 1455). 75 As we have noted above, however, the County has consistently denied that the Fire and Rescue Division acted pursuant to its affirmative action plans with respect to Bass. The jury may ultimately choose to believe that this is true. In the event that the jury disbelieves the County's denials, however, the County is not entitled to retrench and argue that its affirmative action plans are valid and constitute a defense to the race discrimination claims. The County has put forth no evidence suggesting that its affirmative action plans could satisfy the requirements of Title VII, nor has it asked for an opportunity to do so. At no time has the County argued, even in the alternative, that, if Bass is right about the Division's actions being a product of the County's affirmative action plans, the plans were nevertheless valid. Having chosen its strategic path, the County should not be allowed to disrupt the orderly course of litigation by belatedly requesting a hearing on or judicial determination about the validity of its affirmative action plans if the factual premise of the County's strategy is rejected by the jury. Therefore, the district court should instruct the jury that if it finds that the Division acted pursuant to the County's affirmative action plans in failing to hire Bass for one of the Training Instructor positions, the County is liable under Title VII for discrimination.