Case Brief

The Legal
Research Process

The Legal Research

Process (FLAC)

Step 1: Facts (Analyze the facts)

Step 2: Issues (Determine the legal

issues)

Step 3: Law (Relevant Law)

Step 4: Analysis (Analyze the law &

apply it to the facts)

Step 5: Communication (Rationale)

Communicate the results of the
research

Ricci Case
Step 1: Facts

Supreme Court (highest court) ruled that

white firefighters in New Haven, Conn
were unfairly denied promotions because
of their race, reversing a decision that
high court Sonia Sotomayor endorsed as
an appeals court judge

White firefighters were upset that New

Haven voided the entire 2003
promotional exam after the results made
18 whites but no blacks eligible to
become officers labeling it invalid under
the constitution

The city scrapped the promotion board

because they were afraid of a lawsuit
from minorities who would be turned
down following the test

Judge Sotomayor was on a three-judge

panel that unanimously rejected the
reverse discrimination complaint by
the white firefighters

Sotomayor stated that the test was

arbitrary because the there was a
disproportionate failure rate among
minorities

Judge Sonia Sotomayor is a minority

(Hispanic Women)

Frank Ricci white fire fighter who is

dyslexic filed the lawsuit

What are the Issues?

Does Frank Ricci have a valid case of

reverse discrimination against the city of
New Haven?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature
=player_embedded&v=re_paP3lm4

Was the fire fighter test arbitrary creating

an unfair test for minorities ?

Was Judge Sotomayors rejection of the

law suit a result of her mood or personal
prejudices? (Legal Realism View)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature
=player_embedded&v=
OfC99LrrM2Q

Law (Relevant Law)

New Haven worried about violation of

Civil Rights Act of 1964 because exam
had a disparate impact on minorities

Disparate: elements very different from

one another

Title (VII) AKA Title 7 prohibits

intentional acts of employment
discrimination based on race, color, sex
and national origin (disparate
treatment) and policies or practices
that intentionally or have a
disproportionately adverse
discriminatory effect

Under Title VII, an employer can

engage in an act of intentional
discrimination for the purposed of
avoiding or remedying a disparate
impact only if there is evidence

Analyze the Law & Apply

This step means: reading the relevant

law, synthesizing it and applying the
facts

That is think like a lawyer!

As a class what is your legal

reasoning with regards to the
facts and the law?

Communication
(Rationale)

Supreme Court (Highest Court) Buck

stops here!!!

Ruling: White firefighters were unfairly

denied promotions because of their
race (reverse discrimination).

New Haven was wrong to scrap

promotion exam because no African
Americans and only 18 white
firefighters were made eligible for
promotion