On November 27, 1985, the United States filed this lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Delaware. It sued New Castle County and its Public Safety, Police, and Personnel Departments under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e. Represented by the Department of Justice, the United States sought an injunction to prevent New Castle County from discriminating against women in police hiring. Specifically, it claimed that the defendants required aspiring police officers to take a physical agility test that disproportionately excluded women.

The case developed from a complaint that a female applicant filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The EEOC found reasonable cause to believe that the allegations were true. After its reconciliation efforts failed, the EEOC referred the case to the Department of Justice (DOJ). The applicant settled her personal dispute with defendants on the same day that this lawsuit was filed for $4,500.

New Castle County entered into a consent decree with the DOJ days later. The County did not admit liability. But it agreed to either scrap or modify the physical agility test. In addition, the County offered priority hiring to women who had been rejected solely because they failed the physical agility test. And it promised to develop job ads targeting women and increase mentorship opportunities. The consent decree also set forth recordkeeping requirements, and reporting and monitoring terms. The decree was set to last for 4 years, after which the County could move for its dissolution. The Court approved this Consent Decree on December 5, 1985.

The case was not dissolved, however. Instead, in May 1992, the parties stipulated to entry of a supplemental consent decree -- that decree is not available to us. The docket has no more entries after that, so presumably, (but not for certain) the case is closed.

Timothy Leake - 06/15/2019


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