Earlier today, the Supreme Court released its much-anticipated decisions in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina. By a 6–3 vote, the Supreme Court held that Harvard’s and the University of North Carolina’s use of race in their admissions processes violated the Equal Protection Clause and Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. Chief Justice Roberts wrote the majority opinion.
Although the majority opinion does not explicitly modify existing law governing employers’ consideration of the race of their employees (or job applicants), the decisions nevertheless have important strategic and atmospheric ramifications for employers. In particular, the Court’s broad rulings in favor of race neutrality and harsh criticism of affirmative action in the college setting could accelerate the trend of reverse-discrimination claims.
As a formal matter, the Supreme Court’s decision does not change existing law governing employers’ use of race in employment decisions. But existing law already circumscribes employers’ ability to use race-based decision-making, even in pursuit of diversity goals.
I. Background
Students for Fair Admissions (“SFFA”), an organization dedicated to ending the use of race in college admissions, brought two lawsuits that were considered together at the Supreme Court. One lawsuit challenged Harvard’s use of race in admissions on the ground that it violates Title VI, which prohibits race...
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