Employment Litigation · Primary-source case analysis

Ricci: Discarding Promotion Results Because of Race Required a Strong Basis in Evidence

By Aneeta Mishra and Timothy Chan

Published September 1, 2026

Ricci v. DeStefano arose after New Haven declined to certify firefighter-promotion examinations because the racial distribution of the results raised concern about disparate-impact litigation.

The city acted because of the racial results

After extensive hearings, the city discarded the completed process rather than certify the list. The decision deprived successful candidates of promotion consideration because of the race-associated outcome.

Title VII presented competing commands

Avoiding a practice that unlawfully causes disparate impact may be legitimate, but intentional differential treatment because of race is itself prohibited.

A strong evidentiary basis was required

The employer needed strong evidence that the tests were not job related and consistent with business necessity, or that an equally valid, less discriminatory alternative was available and refused.

The existing record did not meet that threshold

The Court found the examinations job related and the proposed alternatives too speculative on the summary-judgment record, and directed judgment for the plaintiffs.

Key takeaways

• Validate selection tools before administration.
• Document job relatedness and available alternatives.
• Do not discard completed results based on racial statistics alone.
• Evaluate disparate-treatment and disparate-impact exposure together.