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.

All labels observed (2)

How this entity was disambiguated

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 Massachusetts veterans’ preference statute for civil service positions ⓘ
citation 442 U.S. 256 ⓘ
60 L. Ed. 2d 870 ⓘ
99 S. Ct. 2282 ⓘ
constitutionalProvisionInterpreted Fourteenth Amendment Equal Protection Clause ⓘ
country United States ⓘ
court Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
decisionDate 1979-06-05 ⓘ
decisionType opinion of the Court ⓘ
dissentBy Justice John Paul Stevens ⓘ
linked to: 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 Chief Justice Warren E. Burger ⓘ
linked to: Warren E. Burger

Justice Byron R. White ⓘ
linked to: Byron R. White

Justice Harry A. Blackmun ⓘ
linked to: Harry A. Blackmun

Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr. ⓘ
linked to: Lewis F. Powell Jr.

Justice Thurgood Marshall ⓘ
linked to: Thurgood Marshall

Justice William H. Rehnquist ⓘ
Justice William J. Brennan Jr. ⓘ
jurisdiction federal ⓘ
languageOfProceedings English ⓘ
legalIssue Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment ⓘ
discriminatory intent versus discriminatory impact ⓘ
sex discrimination ⓘ
majorityOpinionBy Justice Potter Stewart ⓘ
linked to: Potter Stewart
originatingJurisdiction Commonwealth of Massachusetts ⓘ
linked to: 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 Arlington Heights v. Metropolitan Housing Development Corp. ⓘ
Washington v. Davis ⓘ
relatedDoctrine disparate impact versus disparate treatment ⓘ
respondent Helen Feeney ⓘ
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. ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

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 → Massachusetts veterans’ preference statute for civil service positions ⓘ
linked to: Personnel Administrator of Massachusetts v. Feeney