Court Opinion

ID: 9842097
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-09-22 20:12:40.266208+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T09:09:38.041400
License: Public Domain

Justice Stevens,
concurring in the judgment.
The question we granted certiorari to decide, though extremely important, is also extremely narrow. It reads as follows:
“Is the racially adverse impact of an employer’s practice of simply committing employment decisions to the unchecked discretion of a white supervisory corps subject to the test of Griggs vs. Duke Power Co., 401 U. S. 424 (1971)?” Pet. for Cert. i.
Essentially for the reasons set forth in Parts II-A and II-B of Justice O’Connor’s opinion, I agree that this question must be answered in the affirmative. At this stage of the proceeding, however, I believe it unwise to announce a “fresh” interpretation of our prior cases applying disparate-impact analysis to objective employment criteria. See ante, at 994. Cases in which a Title VII plaintiff challenges an employer’s practice of delegating certain kinds of decisions to the subjective discretion of its executives will include too many variables to be adequately discussed in an opinion that does not focus on a particular factual context. I would therefore postpone any further discussion of the evidentiary standards set forth in our prior cases until after the District Court has made appropriate findings concerning this plaintiff’s prima facie evidence of disparate impact and this defendant’s explanation for its practice of giving supervisors discretion in making certain promotions.