The U.S. Supreme Court canceled its review of a major employment-discrimination case after the parties settled the case just days before it was to be argued before the justices last week.
The appeal in BCI Coca-Cola Bottling Co. of Los Angeles v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (Case No. 06-341) was being watched closely by some school law experts for its potential impact on school districts. The federal agency had sued the soft-drink bottler over the alleged firing of a black employee on racial grounds. The case dealt with the liability of an employer for discrimination when a decision-maker was not motivated by race but a lower-level supervisor had acted with racial bias.
The National School Boards Association had filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case on the employer’s side. It said a ruling for the EEOC could mean school boards would have to delve deeper into district supervisors’ motivations in employment decisions.
The high court on April 13 granted BCI Coca-Cola’s motion to dismiss its appeal of an unfavorable federal appeals court ruling. The case had been scheduled for argument on April 18.
For more stories on this topic see Law and Courts and our Federal news page.
