The U.S. Supreme Court sided Monday with white firefighters in a workplace discrimination lawsuit, a divisive case over the role race should play in job advancement.
In the split 5-4 vote, a majority of the justices ruled that the city of New Haven, Connecticut, improperly threw out the results of promotional exams that officials said left too few minorities qualified.
One Latino and no African-American firefighters qualified for promotion based on the exam; the city subsequently decided not to certify the results and issued no promotions.
A group of 20 mostly white firefighters sued, claiming reverse discrimination.
High court nominee Judge Sonia Sotomayor heard the case on her federal appeals court last year and sided with the city.
High court backs firefighters in 'reverse discrimination' suit
June 6, 2009
From CNN.com:
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