By Eileen Burkhalter Smith 

It is clear on a quick reading of the recent Supreme Court decision in Ricci et al. v. DeStefano et al.  that it will be significant and its effect immediate.  The Court held on 6/29/09 that a New Haven, Connecticut, fire department was improper (and indeed discriminatory) when it threw out test results to avoid racial disparity in the results.  Our colleague Jason Fisher has penned a thorough article about how the decision will affect employers who use any kind of standardized testing for advancement, job review, or employment.  Even more immediate, perhaps, is the fate of a lawsuit involving the Memphis Police Department and its discarding test results for the same reason--to avoid racial disparity.  Those officers had a lawsuit which had been dismissed under the current law.  With the new Ricci decision, however, their lawsuit will be revived.  The Commercial Appeal discusses it here.