Opinion ID: 532991
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Constitutional and Statutory Considerations

Text: 27 An affirmative action plan executed by a municipality constitutes state action and must comport with the equal protection provisions of the fourteenth amendment and Title VII. Local 93, Int'l Ass'n of Firefighters v. City of Cleveland, 478 U.S. 501, 517 n. 8, 106 S.Ct. 3063, 3072 n. 8, 92 L.Ed.2d 405 (1986). The district court set out in detail its constitutional and Title VII analysis. See Davis III, 696 F.Supp. at 1307-11. 28 It is well-settled that governmental bodies may constitutionally employ racial classifications essential to remedy a past practice of unlawful treatment of racial or ethnic groups subject to discrimination. United States v. Paradise, 480 U.S. 149, 166, 107 S.Ct. 1053, 1064, 94 L.Ed.2d 203 (1987) (affirming court-ordered hiring quotas to remedy past discrimination against minorities in hiring of state troopers). In doing so, both equal protection and Title VII concerns must be satisfied. To this end, there must be (1) adequate justification for the use of affirmative action, and (2) the decree must not unnecessarily burden the rights of the nonminority employees. Johnson v. Transp. Agency, Santa Clara County, 480 U.S. 616, 627-30, 107 S.Ct. 1442, 1449-51, 94 L.Ed.2d 615 (1987); Higgins v. City of Vallejo, 823 F.2d 351, 356-57 (9th Cir.1987), cert. denied, --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 1310, 103 L.Ed.2d 579 (1989).
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30 Race-based remedies to alleviate past discrimination are subject to some level of elevated scrutiny to pass muster under the equal protection clause. United States v. Paradise, 480 U.S. at 166 & n. 17, 107 S.Ct. at 1064 & n. 17 (citing Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education, 476 U.S. 267, 274, 106 S.Ct. 1842, 1847, 90 L.Ed.2d 260 (1986) (means chosen must be 'narrowly tailored' to achieve a 'compelling government interest' )). The Supreme Court recently adopted the Wygant plurality's strict scrutiny analysis in striking down a city ordinance which created a minority set-aside program for municipal construction contracts where it was not shown that the city had discriminated against minorities in the past. City of Richmond v. J.A. Croson Co., --- U.S. ----, 109 S.Ct. 706, 721, 102 L.Ed.2d 854 (1989). 31 The district court properly employed the strict scrutiny analysis set forth in Wygant, and the strong basis in evidence standard articulated by Justice O'Connor in Croson. The district court also reviewed the decree to determine whether it was narrowly tailored to serve a compelling governmental purpose. Davis III, 696 F.Supp. at 1301-02 (quoting Paradise, 480 U.S. at 166 & n. 17, 107 S.Ct. at 1064 & n. 17). The court concluded that the City had a valid compelling governmental purpose in adopting an affirmative action plan--to remedy the City's pattern and practice of discrimination in hiring and promotion on the basis of race and sex. Davis III, 696 F.Supp. at 1307 (citing Johnson, 107 S.Ct. at 1452 [480 U.S. at 631-32]; Paradise, 107 S.Ct. at 1065 [480 U.S. at 167-70]. 32
33 The Union contends the evidence does not justify the decree's affirmative relief because most of the effects of discrimination that the decree was intended to remedy were alleviated by prior court action. The Union further argues there was insufficient evidence to justify the relief granted. The district court addressed these arguments in its order approving the decree. See Davis III, 696 F.Supp. at 1308. It found the arguments to be unpersuasive. Id. So do we. 34
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
40 The Union argues that because the court found insufficient evidence to justify court-ordered race-based hiring, the evidence is also insufficient to support voluntary hiring goals. The Union relies on a statement made by the court in a February 26, 1987 order in which the court enjoined the City from using invalid exams for promotions but declined to order mandatory hiring goals. We reject this argument. 41 The district court found that the statistical disparities between the numbers of minorities and women hired in the fire department and the numbers of minorities and women residing in the City constituted a strong basis in evidence sufficient to establish a prima facie case of past discrimination and justify the affirmative action provisions in the decree. Davis III, 696 F.Supp. at 1302. Because all hiring in the fire department is entry-level and non-skilled (all promotions occur from within the ranks), the court properly could rely on statistics to determine whether a prima facie case of discrimination had been made out to justify the relief granted. Davis III, 696 F.Supp. at 1302; see Croson, 109 S.Ct. at 725 (gross statistical disparities may constitute prima facie proof of pattern or practice of discrimination under Title VII, and are probative of pattern of discrimination where no special qualification necessary) (citing Hazlewood School Dist. v. United States, 433 U.S. 299, 307-08, 97 S.Ct. 2736, 2741-42, 53 L.Ed.2d 768 (1977)); see also Wygant, 476 U.S. at 286, 106 S.Ct. at 1853 (O'Connor, J., concurring) (dicta suggesting statistical disparity alone constitutionally may justify voluntary affirmative action); Paradise, 480 U.S. at 168 n. 18, 107 S.Ct. at 1065 n. 18 (judicial determination of prior discriminatory policies and conduct satisfy first prong (justification) of strict scrutiny test). 42 There was sufficient evidence to justify the consent decree's affirmative action provisions. 43
44 A consent decree may be struck down if it is not narrowly tailored to meet its objectives. Paradise, 480 U.S. at 171, 107 S.Ct. at 1066-67. In determining whether race-based remedies are narrowly tailored, several factors must be considered: necessity for the relief; efficacy of alternative remedies; flexibility and duration of the relief; waiver provisions; relationship of any numerical goals to the relevant labor market; and impact of relief on third parties. Paradise, 480 U.S. at 171, 107 S.Ct. at 1066-67. 45 The Union argues that the decree is not narrowly tailored because it allows blind (unqualified) hiring; contains rigid, fixed quotas; lasts for an unreasonable period of time; contains long-term hiring goals numerically unrelated to past harm; and trammels the rights of nonminorities by failing to provide for the promotion of White firefighters and by uprooting promotion expectations. 46 For the reasons stated by the district court in its opinion, Davis III, 696 F.Supp. at 1309-11, we conclude that these arguments, except as to the duration of the decree, are without merit. For the following reasons we hold that the duration of the decree must be modified. 47 In determining whether the duration of a decree is reasonable, courts look to the facts behind the decree. In Paradise, the Supreme Court upheld a court-ordered decree ordering one-for-one hiring of Blacks which had no ending date but terminated upon the development of promotion procedures which were not adverse to Blacks. Paradise, 480 U.S. at 178, 107 S.Ct. at 1070. The Court in Paradise approved the court-ordered relief which mandated that 50% of all promotions consist of Black candidates until 25% of the rank was Black, but only until a promotion procedure without adverse impact on Blacks is in place. Paradise, 480 U.S. at 179, 107 S.Ct. at 1071. The district court in a prior order had mandated the hiring of 50% Black applicants until 25% of the state trooper force was Black. Id. The promotion order, therefore, reflected the percentage of Black troopers in the relevant labor market--the workforce. Id. 48 The present case presents a fact situation similar to Paradise, but involves a voluntary consent decree. The district court has ordered the hiring of minorities and women in percentages equal to their representation in the labor market--the City and County of San Francisco--and the promotion of minorities and women in percentages equal to their representation in the relevant labor market--the fire department. The decree does not, however, contain any provision to stop the use of its promotion mechanism when its valid promotion objectives have been met. To ensure that the result of the hiring and promotional procedures does not become unreasonable, we modify the seven-year duration of the decree to seven years or sooner upon the accomplishment of the objectives or the goals of the consent decree.
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50 Under a Title VII analysis, voluntary adoption of a race-based remedy may be justified by showing that a manifest imbalance exists, reflecting underrepresentation of women and minorities in traditionally segregated job categories. Johnson, 480 U.S. at 631, 107 S.Ct. at 1452; United Steelworkers of America v. Weber, 443 U.S. 193, 99 S.Ct. 2721, 61 L.Ed.2d 480 (1979). This standard assures that sex or race will be taken into account in a manner consistent with Title VII's purpose of eliminating the effects of employment discrimination, and that the interests of those employees not benefiting from the plan will not be unduly infringed. Johnson, 480 U.S. at 632, 107 S.Ct. at 1452. The standard also prevents non-benefiting employees' rights from being unduly trammeled by the decree's provisions. Id. at 637, 107 S.Ct. at 1455. 51 To determine whether such an imbalance has occurred, the court may compare the percentage of minorities or women in the employer's work force with the percentage in the area labor market or general population. Id. Where the agreement is voluntary, the imbalance need not be sufficient to support a prima facie case of racial discrimination since we do not regard as identical the constraints of Title VII and the Federal Constitution on voluntarily adopted affirmative action plans. Id. Because such an imbalance is evident from the facts in this case, we conclude this branch of the Title VII test has been met. 52
53 Where a finding of manifest imbalance justifies a consent decree's affirmative relief, the decree may be approved provided it does not unnecessarily trammel the interests of the White employees or create an absolute bar to the advancement of White employees. Johnson, 480 U.S. at 637, 107 S.Ct. at 1455 (voluntary affirmative action plan, Title VII analysis); Weber, 443 U.S. at 208, 99 S.Ct. at 2730; Higgins, 823 F.2d at 357. 54 The Union asserts the decree unnecessarily trammels the rights of White nonminority firefighters because it does not require the promotion of any of them. We disagree. Affirmative relief may be implemented only to remedy harm caused by past discrimination. See, e.g., Paradise, 480 U.S. at 167, 107 S.Ct. at 1065 (government bodies may use race-conscious classifications where essential to remedy unlawful treatment of minority groups subject to discrimination). No evidence has been presented showing discrimination against nonminority, White or male firefighters. Therefore, it would not be appropriate for the decree to mandate their promotion. 55 The Union argues that advancement of nonminorities has been absolutely barred because the decree provides for the mandatory promotion of minorities 6 and precludes competition by nonminorities for the slots set aside for minorities. We disagree. 56 The mandatory promotion of thirty-three minorities was balanced by the optional promotion of forty-eight additional firefighters, 75% of whom were nonminorities. The Supreme Court in Weber held a voluntary affirmative action plan reserving 50% of job openings for Black workers to remedy past discrimination did not create an absolute bar to advancement of nonminority employees because they could compete for the remaining 50% of job openings. Weber, 443 U.S. at 208, 99 S.Ct. at 2730. In the present case, only 25% of the forty-eight optional openings were reserved for minorities. In addition, preferential selection for promotions of minorities in the future will be based on the percentage of minorities in the relevant labor force--the fire department--allowing nonminorities to continue to compete for a large number of remaining positions. 57 We conclude that the decree meets the requirements of Title VII.