Case: United States and Taxman v. Piscataway Township

2:92-cv-00340 | U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey

Filed Date: Jan. 28, 1992

Closed Date: 1997

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Case Summary

The school board of Piscataway, New Jersey needed to eliminate a teaching position. Under New Jersey state law, tenured teachers have to be laid off in reverse order of seniority. The newest tenured teachers, Sharon Taxman and Debra Williams, white and African-American respectively, had started working at the school on the same day. Williams was the only black teacher in her department, and 50% of the students were minorities. In the interest of maintaining racial diversity, the school board voted to lay off Taxman. Taxman complained to the EEOC, saying that the board had violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.Title VII gives the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) the authority to enforce Title VII against public employers, after the EEOC processes such charges. In 1992, DOJ filed suit in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey, seeking injunctive and compensatory relief. The DOJ alleged that Piscataway's affirmative action plan constituted reverse discrimination, in violation of Title VII. Taxman intervened as a plaintiff as well. The Board of Education defended by arguing that the affirmative action plan was valid because it served a valuable educational goal. On August 4, 1992, the District Court (Judge Maryanne Trump Barry) denied the defendant's motion to dismiss. 798 F. Supp. 1093 (D.N.J. 1992). On September 10, 1993, the District Court granted the DOJ's motion for partial summary judgment. U.S. v. Board of Educ. of Tp. of Piscataway, 832 F. Supp. 836 (D.N.J.1993). The court held that promoting racial diversity among teachers for the sake of education was an impermissible purpose for an affirmative action plan, and that Title VII does not permit this type of race-conscious plan. The court further concluded that even were the asserted purposes legally sufficient to justify the Board's plan, the plan would be unlawful because it unnecessarily trammels the rights of nonminorities.Piscataway appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. After the start of the Clinton administration, the Department of Justice (which had filed the suit as a plaintiff) filed a brief switching sides, arguing that the district court had erred and that Piscataway's plan was lawful. The Court of Appeals eventually allowed the U.S. to simply withdraw from the case. On the merits, it agreed with the district court. Piscataway School Board v. Taxman, 91 F.3d 1547 (3d Cir. 1996). The school board sought review in the United States Supreme Court, which granted certiorari; the Supreme Court hearing was scheduled for January 1998, but civil rights groups, fearing that the case could lead to the prohibition of affirmative action, if the Supreme Court agreed with the Third Circuit, provided substantial money for the parties to settle the case out of court. Accordingly, the case was dismissed from the Supreme Court's docket, prior to the argument.

Summary Authors

Clearinghouse (11/12/2007)

People

Judge(s)

Alito, Samuel A. Jr. (District of Columbia)

Barry, Maryanne Trump (New Jersey)

Becker, Edward Roy (Pennsylvania)

Attorney for Plaintiff

Cassell, Susan C. (New Jersey)

Chertoff, Michael (Pennsylvania)

Attorney for Defendant

Expert/Monitor/Master/Other

Judge(s)

Alito, Samuel A. Jr. (District of Columbia)

Barry, Maryanne Trump (New Jersey)

Becker, Edward Roy (Pennsylvania)

Cowen, Robert E. (New Jersey)

Greenberg, Morton Ira (New Jersey)

Lewis, Timothy K. (Pennsylvania)

Mansmann, Carol Los (Pennsylvania)

McKee, Theodore Alexander (Pennsylvania)

Nygaard, Richard Lowell (Pennsylvania)

Roth, Jane Richards (Delaware)

Sarokin, H. Lee (New Jersey)

Scirica, Anthony Joseph (Pennsylvania)

Sloviter, Dolores Korman (Pennsylvania)

Stapleton, Walter King (Delaware)

Attorney for Plaintiff

Cassell, Susan C. (New Jersey)

Chertoff, Michael (Pennsylvania)

Dulen, Maureen T (District of Columbia)

Fenton, William B. (District of Columbia)

Schlesinger, Steven H. (District of Columbia)

Attorney for Defendant

Rubin, David B (New Jersey)

Other

Klausner, Stephen E. (New Jersey)

Documents in the Clearinghouse

Documents in this case

2:92-cv-00340	Docket [PACER] USA v. Township of Piscataway	Dec. 17, 1997	Dec. 17, 1997 Docket
94-05112	Docket United States of America v. Piscataway Board of Education U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit	Jan. 26, 1998	Jan. 26, 1998 Docket
23 2:92-cv-00340	Opinion of District Court United States v. Board of Education of Township of Piscataway	Aug. 4, 1992	Aug. 4, 1992 Order/Opinion 798 F.Supp. 1093
49 2:92-cv-00340	Opinion United States v. Board of Education of the Township of Piscataway	Sept. 10, 1993	Sept. 10, 1993 Order/Opinion 832 F.Supp. 836
94-05090 94-05112	Court of Appeals Order United States of America, Taxman v. Board of Education of the Township of Piscataway U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit	Nov. 17, 1995	Nov. 17, 1995 Order/Opinion 1995 WL 704036
94-05090 94-05112	Opinion Taxman v. Board of Education of the Township of Piscataway U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit	Aug. 21, 1996	Aug. 21, 1996 Order/Opinion 91 F.3d 1547
96-00679	Memorandum Decisions Piscataway Township Board of Education v. Taxman Supreme Court of the United States	Jan. 21, 1997	Jan. 21, 1997 Order/Opinion 519 U.S. 1089
96-00679	Memorandum Decisions Piscataway Township Board of Education v. Taxman Supreme Court of the United States	Dec. 2, 1997	Dec. 2, 1997 Order/Opinion 522 U.S. 1010

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Docket

Last updated March 18, 2024, 3:10 a.m.

Docket sheet not available via the Clearinghouse.

Case Details

State / Territory:

New Jersey

Case Type(s):

Equal Employment

Key Dates

Filing Date: Jan. 28, 1992

Closing Date: 1997

Case Ongoing: No

Plaintiffs

Plaintiff Description:

United States and a white school teacher

Plaintiff Type(s):

Private Plaintiff

U.S. Dept of Justice plaintiff

Attorney Organizations:

U.S. Dept. of Justice Civil Rights Division

Public Interest Lawyer: Yes

Filed Pro Se: No

Class Action Sought: No

Class Action Outcome: Not sought

Defendants

City

BOARD OF EDUCATION OF THE TOWNSHIP OF PISCATAWAY

Defendant Type(s):

Elementary/Secondary School

Case Details

Causes of Action:

State law

Title VII (including PDA), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e

Other Dockets:

District of New Jersey 2:92-cv-00340

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit 94-05090

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit 94-05112

Supreme Court of the United States 96-679

Available Documents:

Any published opinion

Trial Court Docket

Outcome

Prevailing Party: Plaintiff OR Mixed

Relief Granted:

Damages

Injunction / Injunctive-like Settlement

Source of Relief:

Litigation

Order Duration: 1994 - 1994

Issues

Discrimination Area:

Discharge / Constructive Discharge / Layoff

Disparate Treatment

Discrimination Basis:

Race discrimination

Affected Race(s):

White

Recommended Citation

Case Summary of United States and Taxman v. Piscataway Township, Civil Rights Litig. Clearinghouse, https://clearinghouse.net/case/10477/ (last updated 11/12/2007).