In passing Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Congress sought to promote equal employment opportunity while allowing the use of selection tests. This article focuses on the interaction between the Supreme Court and the EEOC in developing policies governing the use of selection tests. The analysis suggests that typical characterizations of judicial review over administrative agencies frequently miss the subtlety of judicial-administrative interactions. In grappling with the complexities of this potentially redistributive policy, both court and agency have adopted standards more restrictive of selection tests than Congress intended, but more consistent with the goal of equal opportunity.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ANASTASI, A. (1982) Psychological Testing. New York: MacMillan.
2.
BLUMROSEN, A. (1981) "The bottom line in equal employment guidelines: administering a polycentric problem."Admin. Law Rev.33: 323-349.
3.
BLUMROSEN, A. (1980) "The bottom line concept in equal opportunity law."North Carolina Central Law J.12: 1-20.
4.
BLUMROSEN, A. (1973) "The crossroads for equal employment opportunity: incisive administration or indecisive bureaucracy."Notre Dame Lawyer49: 46-62.
5.
BLUMROSEN, A. (1970) "Administrative creativity: the first year of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission."George Washington Law Rev.38: 695-751.
6.
BOOTH, D. and J. MACKAY (1980) "Legal constraints on employment testing and evolving trends in the law."Emory Law J.29: 123-194.
7.
BRYNER, G. (1981) "Congress, courts, and agencies: equal employment and the limits of policy implementation."Pol. Sci.96: 410-429.
8.
BULLOCK, C. S. and J. STEWART"New programs in `Old Agencies': lessons in organizational change from the Office for Civil Rights."Administration & Society15: 387-412.
9.
CANON, B. and M. GILES (1972) "Recurring litigants: federal agencies before the Supreme Court."Western Pol. Q.25: 183-191.
10.
CARTER, L. (1984) Reason in Law. Boston: Little, Brown.
11.
CAVANAGH, R. and A. SARAT (1980) "Thinking about courts: toward and beyond a jurisprudence of judicial competence."Law & Society Rev.14: 371-420.
12.
Congressional Record, Senate (1964) "Interpretive memorandum of Title VII." Vol. 110 (April 8): 7213.
13.
DWORKIN, R. (1979) "How to read the Civil Rights Act."New York Review of Books (December 20): 37-43.
FEE, T. (1982) "Enforcement of Title VII by the EEOC: a critical assessment of the federal government's efforts at eliminating sex discrimination. " Ph. D. dissertation, University of California, Riverside.
16.
FREEDMAN, J. (1978) Crisis and Legitimacy: The Administrative Process and American Government. Cambridge: Harvard Univ. Press.
17.
FIORINO, D. (1976) "Judicial-administrative interaction in regulatory policy making: the case of the Federal Power Commission."Administrative Law Rev.28: 41-88.
18.
GREEN, B. (1981) "A primer of testing."Amer. Psychologist36: 1001-1011.
19.
HANDBERG, R. (1979) "The Supreme Court and administrative agencies."J. of Contemporary Law6: 161-176.
20.
HOROWITZ, D. (1977a) The Courts and Social Policy. Washington, DC: Brookings.
21.
HOROWITZ, D. (1977b) The Jurocracy. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath.
22.
JOHNSON, C. (1979) "Judicial decisions and organization change: a theory."Administration & Society11: 27-51.
23.
JOHNSON, C. and B. CANON (1984) Judicial Policies: Implementation and Impact. Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press.
24.
LOWI, T. (1964) "American business, public policy, case-studies and political theory."World Politics16: 677-715.
25.
MAZMANIAN, D. and P. SABATIER (1983) Implementation and Public Policy. Glenview, IL: Scott, Foresman.
26.
MEIER, K. (1979) Politics and the Bureaucracy: Policymaking in the Fourth Branch of Government. North Scituate, MA: Duxbury Press.
27.
NONET, P. and P. SELZNICK (1978) Law and Society in Transition: Toward Responsive Law. New York: Harper & Row.
28.
PIERCE, R. and S. SHAPIRO (1981) "Political and judicial review of agency action."Texas Law Rev.59: 1175-1192.
29.
RIPLEY, R. and G. FRANKLIN (1982) Bureaucracy and Policy Implementation. Homewood, IL: Dorsey Press.
30.
RUBIN, R. (1979) "The uniform guidelines on employment selection procedures: compromises and controversies."Catholic University Law Rev.28: 605-634.
31.
SHAPIRO, M. (1968) The Supreme Court and Administrative Agencies. New York: Macmillan.
32.
SHOBEN, E. (1978) "Differential pass-fail rates in employment testing: statistical proof under Title VII."Harvard Law Rev.91: 793-813.
33.
SHOBEN, E. (1977) "Probing the discriminatory effects of employee selection procedures with disparate impact analysis under Title VII."Texas Law Rev.56: 1-45.
34.
TANENHAUS, J. (1960) "Supreme Court attitudes toward federal administrative agencies."J. of Politics22: 502-524.
35.
U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Labor, and Civil Service Commission (1976) "Federal Executive Agency guidelines on employee selection procedures."Federal Register41: 51744-51751.
36.
WILSON, H. (1972) "A second look at Griggs v. Duke Power Company: ruminations on job testing, discrimination, and the role of the federal courts."Virginia Law Rev.58: 844-874.
