Today's decision from the Seventh Circuit (Radentz v. Marion County) serves as a reminder that statements reflecting a desire to hire employees of a specific race are likely to hurt in litigation. The decision reverses summary judgment for the Marion County, Indiana, coroner in a "reverse" discrimination suit brought by two white individuals who provided contract autopsy services to the County. The County terminated the contract ostensibly as a money saving measure (but there was evidence that the replacement agreement did not actually save money). (For present purposes it doesn't matter that these were employees of a contractor, the rules governing Title VII would be the same had they been employees.)
The county did a lot wrong but its shoddy (to be charitable) management practices would perhaps not have mattered (under the business judgment rule) except for the presence of several statements by the newly elected coroner (who was African-American) that he wanted to hire more African-Americans and to replace white workers.
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