Affirmative Action

Reverse Discrimination Decisions Hammer Quotas

Legal observers report that foes of preference programs are winning victories in legal challenges from coast to coast. While ballot propositions opposing ethnic and gender preferences garner headlines, court decisions and increased public awareness are taking their toll on affirmative action programs.

The latest decision came in a case in California last month.

  • A police lieutenant in Los Angeles sued the city's police department on grounds of reverse discrimination after he was denied a helicopter pilot's position in favor of an allegedly less-qualified black colleague.

  • Assisted by the Individual Rights Foundation, the officer dug up evidence to support his suit -- including a statement by the helicopter unit's captain that "three of the next four pilot openings would be filled by minority officers."

  • U.S. District Court Judge William Keller found in the lieutenant's favor -- doubling the amount of back salary he requested and ordering the Los Angeles Police Department to pay his attorney's fees.

Source: Frederick R. Lynch (Claremont McKenna College), "Legal Trench Warfare Against Quotas," Investor's Business Daily, August 12, 1998.

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