Davis v. Washington, 72-2105

• Decision Date: 27 February 1975
• Docket Number: No. 72-2105,72-2105
• Citation: 512 F.2d 956,168 U.S.App.D.C. 42
• Parties: 10 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 105, 9 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 9980, 168 U.S.App.D.C. 42 Alfred E. DAVIS et al., George Harley and John D. Sellers, Appellants, v. Walter E. WASHINGTON, Individually and in his capacity as Commissioner of theDistrict of Columbia, et al.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

Page 956

512 F.2d 956

10 Fair Empl.Prac.Cas. 105, 9 Empl. Prac.

Dec. P 9980,

168 U.S.App.D.C. 42

Alfred E. DAVIS et al., George Harley and John D. Sellers, Appellants, v. Walter E. WASHINGTON, Individually and in his capacity as Commissioner of theDistrict of Columbia, et al.

No. 72-2105.

United States Court of Appeals District of Columbia Circuit.

Argued Jan. 23, 1974.

Decided Feb. 27, 1975.

Richard B. Sobol, Aldie, Va., with whom George Cooper, Richard T. Seymour and Ralph J. Temple, Washington, D. C., were on the brief for appellants.

David P. Sutton, Asst. Corp. Counsel for the District of Columbia, Washington, D. C., with whom C. Francis Murphy, Corp. Counsel and Richard W. Barton, Asst. Corp. Counsel, Washington, D. C., were on the brief for appellee Washington.

Douglass J. McCollum, Asst. U. S. Atty., with whom Harold H. Titus, Jr., U. S. Atty., at the time the brief was filed, John A. Terry, Asst. U. S. Atty., were on the brief for the federal appellees. Earl J. Silbert, U. S. Atty., also entered an appearance for federal appellees.

Before McGOWAN, ROBINSON and ROBB, Circuit Judges:

SPOTTSWOOD W. ROBINSON, III, Circuit Judge:

On behalf of all blacks who have unsuccessfully sought appointment to the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department since 1968, appellants intervened in this class action ¹ to assert the claim that Test 21, a written entrance examination administered to all applicants, discriminates against blacks in violation of the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment and federal civil rights laws. ² The District Court con

                cluded that Test 21 was nondiscriminatory in design and operation and was "reasonably and directly related to the requirements of the police recruit training program."  3  The court entered summary judgment for the defendants, appellees here, 4 and this appeal followed.  5  We hold that appellants have demonstrated on the record that Test 21 has a racially disproportionate impact, 6 and that appellees have not met their heavy burden of showing that the test is related to job performance.  7  Accordingly, we reverse the summary judgment and remand for further proceedings
                

I. THE APPLICABLE LEGAL STANDARD

A. The Facts

Applicants are appointed to positions in the Metropolitan Police Department if they satisfy character and physical standards, have a high school diploma or the equivalent, and receive a raw score of 40 or above on Test 21. ⁸ The test was developed by the Civil Service Commission for general use throughout the federal service as a measure of verbal ability, rather than specifically to measure the full range of skills required to perform the tasks of a police officer. ⁹ The Department was not involved in the formulation of Test 21.

Appellants tendered to the District Court statistical evidence purportedly demonstrating that Test 21 has a disproportionate impact on black applicants. Among the applicants tested in the District of Columbia from 1968 through 1971, 57% of the blacks failed the test, as compared to a failure rate of 13% for

                whites.  10  Although black applicants thus failed Test 21 at a rate more than four times greater than the rate for whites, appellees dispute the capability of these statistics to prove a racially disproportionate impact.  They further contend that, regardless of the sufficiency of this evidence, Test 21 can be used in selecting police officers because it is sufficiently job related.  In support of the latter proposition, they offer a validity study 11 conducted under the auspices of the Civil Service Commission demonstrating, they claim, that scores on Test 21 accurately predict performance in Recruit School, the Department's police training program
                

B. The Griggs Standard

In Griggs v. Duke Power Co., ¹² the Supreme Court considered the legality of standardized intelligence tests under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. ¹³ "If an employment practice which operates to exclude Negroes cannot be shown to be related to job performance," the Court said, "the practice is prohibited." ¹⁴ Once it is shown that a particular selection procedure has an exclusionary effect on minority applicants, there is a heavy burden on the employer to show that discriminatory procedure "bear(s) a demonstrable relationship to successful performance of the jobs for which they were used." ¹⁵ In the instant case, if appellants' evidence is sufficient to show an exclusionary impact on black applicants, and we hold that it is, ¹⁶ then the Department must shoulder the heavy burden of justifying Test 21 by demonstrating that results on the test are satisfactorily related to successful performance of the job of a police officer.

The District Court ruled that appellants' showings (a) that the number of black police officers in the Department is not proportionate to the population mix of the District, (b) that a higher percentage of blacks fail Test 21 than whites, and (c) that Test 21 has not been validated to show its reliability for measuring job performance, shifted the burden of proof to appellees. ¹⁷ We reach the same conclusion on the basis of the racially disproportionate impact that Test 21 is shown to have. ¹⁸ The District Court further ruled, however, that Test 21 is exonerated by a direct and reasonable relationship to the requirements of the Department's police training program. ¹⁹ We deem that insufficient, and finding Test 21 not otherwise demonstrated to be job related, we hold that appellees have not met their burden. ²⁰

II. THE RACIALLY DISPROPORTIONATE IMPACT OF TEST 21

The evidence in the record establishes that the percentage of black failures on Test 21 is far greater than white The District appellees contend that the court could properly find that appellants had not made the necessary showing simply by considering the relationship between the percentage of blacks in the Metropolitan Police Department and the percentage of black population in the community. ²⁴ They assert that other courts have been more concerned with that type of information than with pass-fail rates. Our research discloses, however, that population data have been considered judicially for only two purposes. There are a number of cases that have held population data alone sufficient to show racially disproportionate impact, but in the apparent absence of data on pass-fail rates. ²⁵ Other courts have noted population data merely to corroborate a showing of racially disproportionate impact based on pass-fail rates. ²⁶ There is no authority-and we decline to provide any-for the proposition that proof of a racially disproportionate impact must encompass both pass-fail rates and disparate population figures. We think the precedents establish that either demonstration is legally sufficient to shift the burden of establishing job relatedness to the employer. ²⁷

                failures.  21  The cases hold, and we agree, that evidence establishing that significantly more blacks than whites fail a written entrance examination given to all applicants is sufficient, as a matter of law, to show the racially disproportionate impact of the examination.  22  The disparity disclosed in this case-more than four to one-is larger than differences held sufficiently disproportionate in other cases.  23  Indeed, absent evidence revealing some other reason for the lopsided failure rates appearing here, it is difficult to imagine how disproportionate effect could ever be better demonstrated
                

Appellees also urge us to consider the affirmative efforts of the Metropolitan Police Department to recruit black officers. We think such efforts are irrelevant to the issue-the discriminatory effect of Test 21 itself. The employer's lack of discriminatory intent was deemed irrelevant by the Supreme Court in Griggs ; "Congress directed the thrust of the (Civil Rights) Act to the consequences of employment practices," the The evidence this case lays bare is further corroborated by the "substantial body of evidence that black persons and other disadvantaged groups perform on the average far below the norm for whites on generalized intelligence or aptitude tests." ³³ Judicial decisions on the "ever-extending series of challenges to civil service examinations" ³⁴ unequivocally establish that blacks are test-rejected more frequently than whites. ³⁵ This phenomenon is the result of the long history of educational deprivation, primarily due to segregated schools, for blacks. ³⁶ Until arrival of the day when the effects of that deprivation have been completely dissipated, comparable performance on such tests can hardly be expected.

                Court admonished, "not simply the motivation."  28  Other courts have held that an employee challenging an employment practice as discriminatory need not prove a purpose on the employer's part to discriminate; 29  the only intent requirement is that the employer consciously perform the allegedly discriminatory act.  30  Thus it has been expressly held, and we agree, that effortS to recruit minority members have no bearing on a showing that an employment practice has a racially disproportionate impact.  31  Although the Department, quite commendably, has succeeded in increasing the proportion of black officers through vigorous efforts, it is self-evident that use of selection procedures that do not have a disparate effect on blacks would have resulted in an even greater percentage of black police officers than exists today.  32
                

III. JOB RELATEDNESS OF TEST 21

As a result of appellants' showing that Test 21 has a disproportionate racial impact, there is a heavy burden on appellees to prove that the examination bears a demonstrable relationship to successful performance as a member of the Metropolitan Police Department. ³⁷ Appellees We are compelled to view the evidence presented by appellees in that regard with some skepticism. The assertion of predictive value of Test 21 for achievement in Recruit School is based upon a correlation between Test 21 scores and...