Griggs v. Duke Power Co., 401 U.S. 424 (1971), was a court case argued before the United States Supreme Court on December 12, 1970. It concerned employment discrimination and was decided on March 8, 1971.

The Court ruled against a procedure used by the company when selecting employees for internal transfer and promotion to certain positions, namely requiring a high school education and certain scores on broad aptitude tests. African-American applicants, less likely to hold a high school diploma and averaging lower scores on the aptitude tests, were selected at a much lower rate for these positions compared to white candidates. The Court found that under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, if such tests disparately impact ethnic minority groups, businesses must demonstrate that such tests are "reasonably related" to the job for which the test is required. If not, a discrimination violation of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause would be presumed to have occurred and the use of such employment tests must be discontinued. As such, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibits employment tests (when used as the controlling factor in employment decisions) that are not a "reasonable measure of job performance," regardless of the absence of actual intent to discriminate. Since the aptitude tests involved (and the high school diploma required) were broad-based and not directly related to the jobs performed, Duke Power Company's employee transfer procedure was found in violation by the Court.

External links

• Oyez.com summary
• FindLaw.com article

United States Supreme Court cases | Employment law | 1971 in law | United States Supreme Court cases without an infobox