Opinion ID: 532991
Heading Depth: 5
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Prior Relief

Text: 35 The Union argues that prior relief resulting from the WACO litigation precludes the affirmative relief afforded by the consent decree. The WACO litigation, however, involved discrimination only against Blacks in entry-level hiring. The WACO court enjoined the City from hiring based on invalid examinations, set lower cut-off scores for new examinations, and ordered one-for-one minority hiring which lasted from 1973 until a consent decree was signed in 1977. The WACO consent decree expired in 1982, contained no affirmative action provisions and set a hiring goal of 40% minorities for the makeup of the entry-level eligibility lists. 36 The litigation underlying the consent decree before us involves both entry-level hiring and promotions of Asians, Blacks, Hispanics and women. The WACO litigation, therefore, cannot provide relief to Asians, Hispanics or women who have been discriminated against at both the entry-level and promotion level, or to Blacks who have been discriminated against in promotions. 37 The Union's argument also overlooks the City's failure to comply with the WACO consent decree's mandate to formulate new, valid examinations. The Union contends that because the City permanently was enjoined from using invalid exams, and ordered to write valid ones, the discrimination suffered by minorities and women resulting from past use of invalid exams was remedied, and there was no need for affirmative relief in the consent decree. We disagree. 38 In Paradise, the Supreme Court approved court-ordered affirmative relief where Alabama had consistently resisted court orders and had failed to live up to them. Paradise, 480 U.S. at 170-71, 107 S.Ct. at 1066-67. The Court found that [t]he race-conscious relief at issue here is justified by a compelling interest in remedying the discrimination that permeated entry-level hiring practices and the promotional process alike. Id. at 170, 107 S.Ct. at 1066 (footnote omitted). The present situation is strikingly similar. 39