24 Fair empl.prac.cas. 1105, 24 Empl. Prac. Dec. P 31,297 James Craig, Jr. v. County of Los Angeles

After finding that the Mexican-American plaintiffs had proved a prima facie case of discrimination in the use of certain hiring tests for the position of deputy sheriff by Los Angeles County, the district court went on to find that validation of the challenged tests was sufficient to rebut any charge of a violation of federal law. Consequently the court entered judgment dismissing the action. Plaintiffs appeal. We reverse in part and affirm in part.

This class action challenged the defendants’ use of two written examinations plus the minimum height requirements of the sheriff’s department as violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended (42 U.S.C. §§ 2000e, et seq.), and the Civil Rights Act of 1870 ( 42 U.S.C. § 1981 ) .

The trial court considered two written verbal and cognitive ability tests. Statistics demonstrated that the ET4-1 test, administered between 1973 and 1975, had a substantial adverse impact on Mexican-Americans, requiring validation of the test. We will examine the sufficiency of that validation in due course.

The district court did not reach the validation issue for the second test (CPS Form 51X) employed by the sheriff. Based on its…