January 19, 2009

Employment-Test Dispute Before Supreme Court Could Affect Colleges

By Peter Schmidt

Washington

The U.S. Supreme Court has taken up a racial-discrimination lawsuit filed by Hispanic and white firefighters that could lead to a decision altering how colleges use tests in hiring and admissions decisions.

The case, Ricci v. DeStefano, centers on the New Haven, Conn., city government’s 2003 decision to throw out the results of a civil-service test for firefighters because no black and relatively few Hispanic firefighters had scored well enough on it to qualify for

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