Washington v. Davis

In Washington, the Court clearly states that some evidence of discriminatory intent is necessary to demonstrate that employment tests are unconstitutional. What that evidence consists of, however, was not made clear.

On 10 April 1970, two African American police officers filed suit against officials of the police department in Washington, D.C. Their initial claim was that the department's promotions policy was racially discriminatory. Their suit was joined by others who alleged that their applications to become police officers had been rejected, at least in part, because of a written personnel test which African Americans failed in disproportionate numbers. The plaintiffs claimed that police department policies in the District of Columbia--which is governed by federal laws--violated the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment, which reads: "No person shall be . . . deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law."

The federal district court ruled in favor of the police department. On appeal, however, Davis and the other complainants prevailed. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia applied the standard set by the U.S. Supreme Court in the seminal employment discrimination case, Griggs v. Duke Power Company (1971), which held that tests which operate to exclude minority groups are unconstitutional. According to Griggs, this presumption can only be mitigated if the employer can demonstrate that the tests are substantially related to job performance. Holding that lack of discriminatory intent in administering hiring and promotion exams was irrelevant, the appellate court reversed the decision of the district court. The police officials then petitioned the Supreme Court for review of this decision.