Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education

Petitioner

Wendy Wygant, on behalf of a group of laid-off non-minority teachers

Respondent

Jackson Board of Education

Petitioner's Claim

That the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment was violated by the school district's labor contract under an affirmative action plan,which resulted in minority teachers with less seniority being retained and non-minority teachers with greater seniority being laid off.

Chief Lawyer for Petitioner

K. Preston Dade, Jr.

Chief Lawyer for Respondent

Jerome A. Susskind

Justices for the Court

Warren E. Burger, Sandra Day O'Connor, Lewis F. Powell, Jr. (writing for the Court), William H. Rehnquist, Byron R. White

Justices Dissenting

Harry A. Blackmun, William J. Brennan, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, John Paul Stevens

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

6 November 1985

Decision

That the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment was violated by the school district's labor contract under an affirmative action plan which resulted in minority teachers with less seniority being retained and non-minority teachers with greater seniority being laid off.

Related Cases

• Firefighters v. Cleveland, 478 U.S. 501 (1986).
• Martin v. Wilks, 490 U.S. 755 (1989).
• Board of Education of the Township of Piscataway v. Taxman, 91 F3d. 1547 (3d Cir. 1996).