Opinion ID: 532991
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Current Litigation Underlying the Consent Decree

Text: 15 The City administered a new entry-level test in 1982-83 and new promotion tests for lieutenant and fire inspector in 1984. Following publication of the results of the entry-level test, the United States and the plaintiff-intervenors brought separate suits against the City under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000e et seq. (1982), and the State and Local Fiscal Assistance Act of 1972, 31 U.S.C. Sec. 6701 et seq. (1982) (repealed 1986). 3 The actions sought relief for the City's failure to correct the effects of past discrimination and for the continued use of invalid hiring exams and practices which adversely impacted women and minorities. 16 The district court found the written component of the 1982-83 entry-level exam produced a passing rate of 59% for Blacks, 74% for Hispanics and 69% for Asians in relation to the passing rate for White applicants. Davis III, 696 F.Supp. at 1296. The passing rate on the second component of the exam, the Physical Agility Test (PAT), was 91% for Blacks, 84% for Hispanics, 73% for Asians and 36% for women, compared with White applicants. Because applicants had to pass the written exam before they could take the PAT, 66% of the top 190 scorers on the entire exam who were certified to the eligibility list were White. Nineteen percent were Black, 5% were Hispanic, 8% were Asian and none were women. Id. 17 The district court enjoined the City's use of the entry-level test results for hiring purposes and granted partial summary judgment on the claims that the exam adversely impacted Blacks and the PAT adversely affected women. Id. In October 1986, on the eve of trial of the remaining issues, the City withdrew the entry-level tests and announced it would not defend the promotional tests. Id. In February 1987 the district court found that the facts established a prima facie violation of Title VII and granted the plaintiffs' motion for partial summary judgment. Davis I, 656 F.Supp. 276, 282 and 288. The court also provided for interim hiring and permanently enjoined the City and SFFD from further violating Title VII. Id. at 289-92. Large portions of the injunction subsequently were incorporated into the consent decree.