The personnel director at East High School thinks she is in big trouble. Ten years ago, 30% of the residents in the county were Hispanic yet only 5% of the school employees were Hispanic. To remedy this situation, the school system developed an affirmative action program in which at least 40% of all new hires were to be Hispanic. The program had been working well because today 25% of all school employees are Hispanic compared to 28% in the qualified work force.

Last week, however, a white employee who wasn't hired for a teaching job filed a lawsuit challenging the legality of the affirmative action plan. Tory Bolton claimed that he was more qualified than the minority applicant who received the job. Bolton had a 3.4 college GPA and three years of teaching experience whereas George Lopez, the minority applicant, had only a 3.2 GPA and two years of teaching experience. Should the personnel director be worried? Why or why not?

Please give textbook references.