mative action plans), out of fear of noncompliance of TitleVII that ultimately have had the same adverse effects on social equity, yet in a different context. In Wygant v. Jackson Board of Education, (476 U.S. 293)(1981) the Supreme Court took into account the harmful effects suffered by whites from government policies designed to serve the permissible purpose of redressing the continuing effects of past racial discrimination are constitutionally significant inequities that can be justified only by “compelling” state interests. (Chang 1)This case dealt with layoff procedures in a public school system during the height of affirmative action. An important aspect of this case was that there had been prior racial discrimination lawsuits litigated in 1976 and again in 1979, Jackson Education Assn. v. Board of Education (Jackson I and Jackson II, respectively). The Board of Education relied upon these cases as proof of past misconduct and racial discrimination in order to validate their current remedial attempts. Nonetheless, the court decided that ultimately, two wrongs do not make a right. The layoff policy was as such that tenured nonminority faculty members were being laid off while minority faculty members (some of whom were still classified in a probationary status) were retained in order to fulfill remedial requirements. The court found that this policy was in violation of the Equal Protection Clause because the classification for layoff purposes was based solely on race. Specifically, white teachers with seniority had been laid off in order to retain black teachers simply because of their race. The resulting effect was an increased awareness of the “strict scrutiny” standard as it relates to the constitutionality of affirmative action plans. Validation of these plans has become crucial with respect to all aspects of employment, especially hiring, promotion, and terminations. Statistical analysis provi...
