The Supreme Court’s 2009 decision was extremely important for civil service employers tasked with implementing human resource policies that adhere to legal interpretations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In this case, the city of New Haven, Connecticut developed and administered a promotional exam for members of its fire department. After finding that the exam had disparate impact on its minority firefighters, the city decertified the exam results, thus leading to accusations to disparate treatment by those firefighters who performed well on the promotional exam. For this case study, please review the Supreme Court’s 2009 decision and answer the following questions:

1 What legal precedent was the city of New Haven following in decertifying the promotional exam results?

2 How did the city’s decision ultimately violate other legal precedents related to equal employment opportunity?

3 In your professional opinion, what were some alternative steps the city could have taken prior to administering the exam, as well as after the exam results were released to members of the fire department?

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