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Challenges To Employment Testing Under Title Vii: Creating "Built In Headwinds" For The Civil Service Employer, Ellen Zweig

Fordham Urban Law Journal

Since the Supreme Court held in Griggs that Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employers from using employment selection systems which are not job-related or which act as "built in headwinds" for minorities, employment tests have been subject to more challenges in courtrooms. Since Griggs, courts have presumed employment tests challenged pursuant to Title VII to be invalid once the plaintiffs establish that the tests produce an adverse impact upon minorities. However, these courts have not suggested many alternative methods of testing and those that have been suggested are generally unworkable for employers who must comply …