Personnel Administrator of Massachusetts v. Feeney

E391917

Personnel Administrator of Massachusetts v. Feeney is a 1979 U.S. Supreme Court case that clarified the standard for proving unconstitutional sex discrimination by requiring a showing of discriminatory intent rather than merely discriminatory impact.

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Statements (45)

Predicate Object
instanceOf United States Supreme Court case
equal protection case
sex discrimination case
areaOfLaw anti-discrimination law
constitutional law
employment and civil service law
challengedLaw Personnel Administrator of Massachusetts v. Feeney self-linksurface differs
surface form: Massachusetts veterans’ preference statute for civil service positions
citation 442 U.S. 256
60 L. Ed. 2d 870
99 S. Ct. 2282
constitutionalProvisionInterpreted Equal Protection Clause
surface form: Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause
country United States of America
surface form: United States
court Supreme Court of the United States
decisionDate 1979-06-05
decisionType opinion of the Court
dissentBy John Paul Stevens
surface form: Justice John Paul Stevens
docketNumber 78-233
factualContext Because the vast majority of veterans in Massachusetts were men, the veterans’ preference effectively disadvantaged women applicants for civil service jobs.
holding A law that is facially neutral and administered in a neutral manner does not violate the Equal Protection Clause solely because it has a disproportionate impact on one sex.
To prove unconstitutional sex discrimination, a plaintiff must show that the law was enacted or maintained because of, not merely in spite of, its adverse effects on a protected group.
impactOnJurisprudence strengthened the requirement of proving discriminatory purpose in equal protection challenges to facially neutral laws
joinedByInMajority Warren E. Burger
surface form: Chief Justice Warren E. Burger

Byron R. White
surface form: Justice Byron R. White

Harry A. Blackmun
surface form: Justice Harry A. Blackmun

Lewis F. Powell Jr.
surface form: Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr.

Thurgood Marshall
surface form: Justice Thurgood Marshall

William H. Rehnquist
surface form: Justice William H. Rehnquist

William J. Brennan Jr.
surface form: Justice William J. Brennan Jr.
jurisdiction federal
languageOfProceedings English
legalIssue Equal Protection Clause
surface form: Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment

discriminatory intent versus discriminatory impact
sex discrimination
majorityOpinionBy Potter Stewart
surface form: Justice Potter Stewart
originatingJurisdiction Massachusetts
surface form: Commonwealth of Massachusetts
petitioner Personnel Administrator of Massachusetts
policyDescription The Massachusetts statute gave an absolute lifetime preference to veterans in civil service hiring and promotion.
precedentialStatus binding precedent on questions of equal protection and discriminatory intent in the United States federal courts
relatedCase Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp.
surface form: Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp.

Washington v. Davis
relatedDoctrine disparate impact versus disparate treatment
respondent Helen Feeney NERFINISHED
standardClarified discriminatory intent requirement under the Equal Protection Clause
mere discriminatory impact is insufficient to establish a constitutional violation
testArticulated A law violates equal protection only if the decisionmaker selected or reaffirmed a particular course of action at least in part because of, not merely in spite of, its adverse effects upon an identifiable group.

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Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Village of Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. relatedCase Personnel Administrator of Massachusetts v. Feeney
Washington v. Davis influenced Personnel Administrator of Massachusetts v. Feeney
Personnel Administrator of Massachusetts v. Feeney challengedLaw Personnel Administrator of Massachusetts v. Feeney self-linksurface differs
this entity surface form: Massachusetts veterans’ preference statute for civil service positions