OFCCP Releases FAQs on the Impact of the Supreme Court's Ricci Decision on Federal Contractor Obligations
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The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) has posted on its website a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) about the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Ricci v. DeStefano, the reverse discrimination case involving New Haven firefighters. In Ricci, the Court determined that the City of New Haven – by tossing the results of an exam that would have disqualified African American from receiving promotions – discriminated against non-African Americans whose scores would have qualified them for advancement. The Court held that “before an employer can engage in intentional discrimination for the asserted purpose of avoiding or remedying an unintentional disparate impact, the employer must have a strong basis in evidence to believe it will be subject to disparate-impact liability if it fails to take the race-conscious, discriminatory action.” This decision has left many federal contractors – who must implement affirmative action programs – wondering whether Ricci will affect the OFCCP’s compliance reviews, and whether the decision would change the contractor’s obligations regarding the use and validation of job-related tests.
A recent presidential directive and piece of legislation seek to ban companies that engage in unlawful practices from receiving federal contracts. On Wednesday, President Obama signed a 