United Steelworkers of America v. Weber: An Exercise in Understandable Indecision

Washington Law Review, Vol. 56, p. 51, 1980

23 Pages Posted: 9 Jul 2009

See all articles by George Schatzki

George Schatzki

Arizona State University (ASU) - Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law

Date Written: 1980

Abstract

In 1974, the United Steelworkers of America and Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corporation entered into a collective-bargaining agreement which provided for a new on-the-job training program designed solely to correct the virtually total absence of blacks in Kaiser's craft workforce. Fifty percent of the trainees were to be black. A white production worker who failed to obtain a position in the program, instituted a class action suit alleging that the affirmative action plan discriminated against him and his white colleagues in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO-CLC v. Weber, the United States Supreme Court upheld the affirmative action plan in a five-to-two majority. The majority conceded that, under some circumstances, discrimination against whites may be outlawed by Title VII, but it did not follow that affirmative action plans fell under that prohibition. This article examines the issue of voluntary affirmative action and analyzes the Court’s majority, concurring, and dissenting opinions in Weber, looking at the language and purposes of Title VII, the relevant case law, and legislative history. This article also discusses the meaning and desirability of the apparent limitations on affirmative action in Weber, and what lower courts have done with Weber's holding and limits.

Keywords: affirmative action, Title VII, discrimination

Suggested Citation

Schatzki, George, United Steelworkers of America v. Weber: An Exercise in Understandable Indecision (1980). Washington Law Review, Vol. 56, p. 51, 1980, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1432034

George Schatzki (Contact Author)

Arizona State University (ASU) - Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law ( email )

Box 877906
Tempe, AZ 85287-7906
United States

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