Court Opinion

ID: 9430687
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:30:20.775947+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:25.792446
License: Public Domain

Justice Rehnquist,
with whom The Chief Justice joins, dissenting.
Petitioner challenges a District Court decree that ordered preferential treatment in promotions for minority firefighters at the expense of nonminority firefighters who would have been promoted under the City’s existing seniority system. There was no requirement in the decree that the minority beneficiaries have been victims of the City’s allegedly discriminatory policies. One would have thought that this question was governed by our opinion only two Terms ago in *536Firefighters v. Stotts, 467 U. S. 561, 578-579 (1984), in which we said:
“If individual members of a plaintiff class demonstrate that they have been actual victims of the discriminatory practice, they may be awarded competitive seniority and given their rightful place on the seniority roster. This much is clear from Franks v. Bowman Transportation Co., 424 U. S. 747 (1976), and Teamsters v. United States, [431 U. S. 324 (1977)]. Teamsters, however, also made clear that mere membership in the disadvantaged class is insufficient to warrant a seniority award; each individual must prove that the discriminatory practice had an impact on him. . . . Here, there was no finding that any of the blacks protected from layoff had been a victim of discrimination and no award of competitive seniority to any of them. Nor had the parties in formulating the consent decree purported to identify any specific employee entitled to particular relief other than those listed in the exhibits attached to the decree. It therefore seems to us that in light of Teamsters, the Court of Appeals imposed on the parties as an adjunct of settlement something that could not have been ordered had the case gone to trial and the plaintiffs proved that a pattern or practice of discrimination existed.”
But a majority of the Court today holds that the District Court properly entered the decree in this case because it was a consent decree, whereas Stotts involved the modification of a consent decree. The Court apparently views a consent decree as one which may be structured almost entirely by the parties, even though the statute which the decree enforces may not authorize any such relief, and, indeed, may actually prohibit such relief.
To support its distinction of a “consent decree” from other types of decrees, the Court finds it necessary to implicitly repudiate language in the two of our cases most closely in *537point — Stotts, supra, and Railway Employees v. Wright, 364 U. S. 642 (1961), in favor of citations to cases that simply do not speak to the question presently before us, or to cases that deal only with the question whether a party that has consented to a decree may nonetheless challenge it. For the decree entered by the District Court in this case was a consent decree only between Vanguards of Cleveland, an organization of black and Hispanic firefighters employed by the City of Cleveland, and the City; the petitioner union, representing the majority of firefighters, never consented to the decree at all. And the Court’s suggestion in Part IV of its opinion that “the consent decree entered here does not bind Local 93 to do or not to do anything,” ante, at 529-530, verges on the Pharisaical; the decree does bind the City of Cleveland to give preferential promotions to minority firefighters who have not been shown to be the victims of discrimination in such a way that nonminority union members who would otherwise have received these promotions are obviously injured.
In Firefighters v. Stotts, supra, at 576, n. 9, the Court said:
“ ‘[T]he District Court’s authority to adopt a consent decree comes only from the statute which the decree is intended to enforce,’ not from the parties’ consent to the decree. Railway Employees v. Wright, 364 U. S. 642, 651 (1961).”
The observations of Justice Harlan’s opinion for the Court in Railway Employees v. Wright, supra, can best be understood when set forth more fully than it was in Stotts:
“In a case like this the District Court’s authority to adopt a consent decree comes only from the statute which the decree is intended to enforce. Frequently of course the terms arrived at by the parties are accepted without change by the adopting court. But just as the adopting court is free to reject agreed-upon terms as not in furtherance of statutory objectives, so must it be free to *538modify the terms of a consent decree when a change in law brings those terms in conflict with statutory objectives. In short, it was the Railway Labor Act, and only incidentally the parties, that the District Court served in entering the consent decree now before us.” 364 U. S., at 651.
The Court simply ignores the statements in Stotts and Wright, in favor of bare citations to various other cases and a commentator. But when we ask precisely what these “other cases” say about the issue presented in this case, the answer is virtually nothing. No one would dispute that a consent decree requires the consent of the parties, and that a consent decree may be an effective way to settle a lawsuit. See, e. g., Carson v. American Brands, Inc., 450 U. S. 79, 88, n. 14 (1981); United States v. ITT Continental Baking Co., 420 U. S. 223, 235-237 (1975); United States v. Armour & Co., 402 U. S. 673 (1971). But the Court’s excerpt from Moore’s Federal Practice, ante, at 525, does not aid its conclusions, and is in fact quite misleading in what it fails to include; the full sentence from Moore’s reads thus:
“But the fact remains that the judgment is not an inter partes contract; the Court is not properly a recorder of contracts, but is an organ of government constituted to make judicial decisions and when it has rendered a consent judgment it has made an adjudication.” IB J. Moore, J. Lucas, & T. Currier, Moore’s Federal Practice ¶0.409[5], pp. 330-331 (1984).
The two prior cases principally relied upon by the Court are Pacific R. Co. v. Ketchum, 101 U. S. 289 (1880), and Swift & Co. v. United States, 276 U. S. 311 (1928). No language from either of these cases is quoted to explain their citation for the proposition that “a federal court is not necessarily barred from entering a consent decree merely because the decree provides broader relief than the court could have awarded after a trial.” Ante, at 525. Ketchum was an *539equity receivership case in federal court only by reason of diversity of citizenship, and there was no question of a federal statute or federal policy to be enforced other than the policy of hearing and deciding cases in which the parties could show diversity jurisdiction. The long and short of the Court’s discussion of consent decrees in Swift & Co., supra, is that while some of the paragraphs of a decree might be objectionable if they had been challenged on appeal, “the defendants by their consent lost the opportunity of raising the question on appeal.” 276 U. S., at 328. Here, of course, petitioner intervened in the District Court pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(a), and never in any way consented to the entry of the decree.*
Thus the Court abandons considered and repeated observations in Stotts and Wright, not because they are inconsistent with any cases recognizing that parties may agree in a *540consent decree to relief broader than a court would otherwise be authorized to impose, but because the statements in Wright and Stotts are inconsistent with the result which the Court is apparently determined to reach in this case. I would adhere to these well-considered observations, which properly restrain the scope of a consent decree to that of implementation of the federal statute pursuant to which the .decree is entered.
Even if I did not regard the above-quoted language in Stotts as controlling, I would conclude — just as five Members of this Court did only two years ago in another passage from Stotts — that § 706(g) bars the relief which the District Court granted in this case. The critical language of § 706(g)— which is the only section of Title VII dealing with the Court’s remedial authority — is:
“No order of the Court shall require the . . . promotion of an individual ... if such individual was refused . . . advancement ... for any reason other than discrimination on account of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin . . . .”
The Court today concludes that this language simply “does not restrict the ability of employers or- unions to enter into voluntary agreements providing for race-conscious remedial action.” Ante, at 521. This conclusion rests on the premise that the overriding policy behind § 706(g) is to prevent courts from unduly interfering with the managerial discretion of employers or unions. Focusing on this single policy, the Court finds it natural to conclude that § 706(g) was intended not to apply to consent decrees to which an employer consents. But this construction flies in the face of the language just quoted, which by its terms deals with any “order” of the Court in a Title VII case. It also conflicts with the legislative history cited in Stotts which shows that § 706(g) serves the additional policy of protecting innocent nonminority em*541ployees from the evil of court-sanctioned racial quotas. In Stotts, 467 U. S., at 579-582, and nn. 12-15, we said:
“Our ruling in Teamsters that a court can award competitive seniority only when the beneficiary of the award has actually been a victim of illegal discrimination is consistent with the policy behind § 706(g) of Title VII, which affects the remedies available in Title VII litigation.12 That policy, which is to provide make-whole relief only to those who have been actual victims of illegal discrimination, was repeatedly expressed by the sponsors of the Act during the congressional debates. Opponents of the legislation that became Title VII charged that if the bill were enacted, employers could be ordered to hire and promote persons in order to achieve a racially balanced work force even though those persons had not been victims of illegal discrimination.13 Responding to *542these charges, Senator Humphrey explained the limits on a court’s remedial powers as follows:
“‘No court order can require hiring, reinstatement, admission to membership, or payment of back pay for anyone who was not fired, refused employment or advancement or admission to a union by an act of discrimination forbidden by this title. This is stated expressly in the last sentence of section 707(e) [enacted without relevant change as § 706(g)] .... Contrary to the allegations of some opponents of this title, there is nothing in it that will give any power to the Commission or to any court to require . . . firing ... of employees in order to meet a racial “quota” or to achieve a certain racial balance. That bugaboo has been brought up a dozen times, but it is nonexistent.’ 110 Cong. Rec. 6549 (1964).
“An interpretative memorandum of the bill entered into the Congressional Record by Senators Clark and Case14 likewise made clear that a court was not authorized to give preferential treatment to non victims. ‘No court order can require hiring, reinstatement, admission to membership, or payment of back pay for anyone who was not discriminated against in violation of [Title VII]. This is stated expressly in the last sentence of section [706(g)]_’ Id., at 7214.
“Similar assurances concerning the limits on a court’s authority to award make-whole relief were provided by supporters of the bill throughout the legislative process. For example, following passage of the bill in the House, its Republican House sponsors published a memorandum describing the bill. Referring to the remedial powers given the courts by the bill, the memorandum stated: ‘Upon conclusion of the trial, the Federal court may en*543join an employer or labor organization from practicing further discrimination and may order the hiring or reinstatement of an employee or the acceptance or reinstatement of a union member. But title VII does not permit the ordering of racial quotas in businesses or unions... Id., at 6566 (emphasis added). In like manner, the principal Senate sponsors, in a bipartisan newsletter delivered during an attempted filibuster to each Senator supporting the bill, explained that ‘[ujnder title VII, not even a court, much less the Commission, could order racial quotas or the hiring, reinstatement, admission to membership or payment of back pay for anyone who is not discriminated against in violation of this title.’ Id., at 14465.15 ”
*544The Court today repeats arguments made by the dissenters in Stotts, which did not command a majority two years ago, and also suggests that a restriction such as § 706(g) should apparently be narrowly construed because, if it were to limit the authority of the court to enter a consent decree, it might hinder settlement of some cases. It would be just as sensible to say that the Norris-LaGuardia Act should be narrowly construed so as not to prevent a consent decree which would violate the Norris-LaGuardia Act since more consent decrees might be entered under that construction of the statute. Congress undoubtedly expressed a preference for conciliation in cases arising under Title VII, but not conciliation reached by violation of its express statutory commands.
Legislative history can obviously be mustered in support of the Court’s interpretation of § 706(g), just as Stotts referred to the legislative history supporting the construction adopted in that case. But while the legislative history may be fairly apportioned among both sides, the language of the statutes is clear. No order of the Court shall require promotion of an individual whose failure to receive promotion was for a reason other than discrimination prohibited by the statute. Here the failure of the District Court to make any finding that the minority firefighters who will receive preferential promotions were the victims of racial discrimination requires us to conclude on this record that the City’s failure to advance them was not “on account of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.”
*545Section 706(g) is the one section in the entire text of Title VII which deals with the sort of relief which a court may-order in a Title VII case; it is simply incredible that the Court today virtually reads it out of existence. Surely an order of the court entered by the consent of the parties does not become any less an order of the court; in the very words of the sentence quoted by the Court from IB J. Moore, J. Lucas, & T. Currier, Moore’s Federal Practice ¶0.409[5], pp. 330-331 (1984):
“[T]he fact remains that the judgment is not an inter partes contract; the court is not properly a recorder of contracts, but is an organ of government constituted to make judicial decisions and when it has rendered a consent judgment it has made an adjudication.”
Just as it has made an adjudication, it has also entered an order, and that order is by definition subject to the prohibitions of § 706(g).

The Court asserts that a three-party dispute may be ended by consent decree even if one of the parties refuses to tender his consent. Ante, at 528-530. It cites Zipes v. Trans World Airlines, Inc., 455 U. S. 385 (1982), and Kirkland v. New York State Dept. of Correctional Services, 711 F. 2d 1117 (CA2 1983), cert. denied, 465 U. S. 1005 (1984), for this novel proposition. But neither of these eases make statements anywhere as broad as the proposition for which they are cited. Zipes involved a union that was “permitted” to intervene nine years after the litigation had commenced, after a judgment on liability had been entered and affirmed, and just before a settlement on the remedy was reached. See 455 U. S., at 388-391. Kirkland involved permissive intervention under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 24(b), see 711 F. 2d, at 1124, which of course raises significantly different equitable concerns from intervention as of right. An intervenor as of right becomes a party to the action because “the disposition of the action may as a practical matter impair or impede his ability to protect that interest,” Fed. Rule Civ. Proc. 24(a), whereas a permissive intervenor typically becomes a party only to ward off the potential effects of stare decisis. The question whether a party or an intervenor as of right may block the entry of a consent decree is therefore left unresolved by these cases. Of course, a judicial decree to which the parties agree may be entered over the objections of an intervenor as of right; but the question is whether such a decree is properly called a “consent decree” or a coercive court order.

 “Section 706(g) provides: ‘If the court finds that the respondent has intentionally engaged in or is intentionally engaging in an unlawful employment practice charged in the complaint, the court may enjoin the respondent from engaging in such unlawful employment practice, and order such affirmative action as may be appropriate, which may include, but is not limited to, reinstatement or hiring of employees, with or without back pay ... or any other equitable relief as the court deems appropriate. ... No order of the court shall require the admission or reinstatement of an individual as a member of a union or the hiring, reinstatement, or promotion of an individual as an employee, or the payment to him of any back pay, if such individual was refused admission, suspended, or expelled, or was refused employment or advancement or was suspended or discharged for any reason other than discrimination’ on account of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin or in violation of § 704(a) of this title.’ 86 Stat. 107, 42 U. S. C. § 2000e-5(g).

 “See H. R. Rep. No. 914, 88th Cong., 1st Sess., 72-73 (1963) (minority report); 110 Cong. Rec. 4764 (remarks of Sen. Ervin and Sen. Hill); id., at 5092, 7418-7420 (remarks of Sen. Robertson); id., at 8500 (remarks of Sen. Smathers); id., at 9034-9035 (remarks of Sen. Stennis and Sen. Tower).

 “Senators Clark and Case were the bipartisan ‘captains’ of Title VII. We have previously recognized the authoritative nature of their interpretative memorandum. American Tobacco Co. v. Patterson, 456 U. S. 63, 73 (1982); Teamsters v. United States, 431 U. S. 324, 352 (1977).

 “The dissent suggests that Congress abandoned this policy in 1972 when it amended § 706(g) to make clear that a court may award ‘any other equitable relief’ that the court deems appropriate. [467 U. S.], at 619-620. As support for this proposition the dissent notes that prior to 1972, some federal courts had provided remedies to those who had not proved that they were victims. It then observes that in a section-by-section analysis of the bill, its sponsors stated that ‘in any areas where a specific contrary intention is not indicated, it was assumed that the present case law as developed by the courts would continue to govern the applicability and construction of Title VII.’ 118 Cong. Rec. 7167 (1972).
“We have already rejected, however, the contention that Congress intended to codify all existing Title VII decisions when it made this brief statement. See Teamsters, supra, at 354, n. 39. Moreover, the statement on its face refers only to those sections not changed by the 1972 amendments. It cannot serve as a basis for discerning the effect of the changes that were made by the amendment. Finally, and of most importance, in a later portion of the same section-by-section analysis, the sponsors explained their view of existing law and the effect that the amendment would have on that law.
“ ‘The provisions of this subsection are intended to give the courts wide discretion exercising their equitable powers to fashion the most complete relief possible. In dealing with the present § 706(g) the courts have stressed that the scope of relief under that section of the Act is intended to make the victims of unlawful discrimination whole, and that the attainment of this objective rests not only upon the elimination of the particular unlawful employment practice com*544plained of, but also requires that persons aggrieved by the consequences and effects of the unlawful employment practice be, so far as possible, restored to a position where they would have been were it not for the unlawful discrimination.’ 118 Cong. Rec., at 7168 (emphasis added).
“As we noted in Franks, the 1972 amendments evidence ‘emphatic confirmation that federal courts are empowered to fashion such relief as the particular circumstances of a case may require to effect restitution, making whole insofar as possible the victims of racial discrimination.’ 424 U. S., at 764 (emphasis added).”