Carson v. American Brands, Inc.

Facts

The petitioners, representing a class of present and former black seasonal employees and applicants for employment at the Richmond Leaf Department of the American Tobacco Company, brought a class action suit under 42 U.S.C. § 1981 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. They alleged that the respondents had discriminated against them in hiring, promotion, transfer, and training opportunities. After extensive discovery and class certification, the parties negotiated a settlement and jointly moved for the court to approve and enter their proposed consent decree. The decree would have required respondents to give hiring and seniority preferences to black employees and to fill one-third of all supervisory positions with qualified blacks. The District Court denied the motion, concluding that preferential treatment based on race violated Title VII and the Constitution absent a showing of past or present discrimination, and that the facts demonstrated no “vestiges of racial discrimination.” The court further held that even if discrimination had been shown, the decree would be illegal because it would extend relief to all present and future black employees, not just actual victims of discrimination. The Fourth Circuit, sitting en banc, dismissed petitioners’ appeal for want of jurisdiction, holding that the District Court’s refusal to enter the consent decree was neither a “collateral order” under 28 U.S.C. § 1291 nor an interlocutory order “refusing” an “injunction” under 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1).