Piscataway Township Board of Education v. Taxman

A number of impassioned dissents occurred in the case. Citing the belief "that students derive educational benefit by having a black faculty member in an otherwise all-white department," Chief Judge Sloviter would have left it up to the discretion of the school board which teacher to dismiss. Judge Scirica echoed these sentiments, adding: "I do not believe Title VII prevents a school district, in the exercise of its professional judgment, from preferring one equally qualified teacher over another for a valid educational purpose"-- namely, racial diversity. Judge Lewis thought the majority's decision "eviscerates the purpose and the goals of Title VII" and set a horrific precedent for future cases.

The Board of Education of Piscataway did not accept the court of appeals ruling and appealed its case to the U.S. Supreme Court. The case seemed destined to become a major litmus test of the High Court's thinking on affirmative action. But as the day of decision neared, civil rights leaders and other supporters of affirmative action began to fear that the board's case was not morally clear and therefore ill-suited to be a testing ground for the legality of affirmative action in general. Accordingly, in November of 1997, a coalition of civic leaders and civil rights groups decided to raise enough money to settle the case with Sharon Taxman. The school board agreed to pay her more than $400,000, 70 percent of which came from outside sources. The decision of the court of appeals was allowed to stand, and the Supreme Court never heard the case.