Sheet Metal Workers v. EEOC: Title VII Remedies Explained
One of the primary functions of the judiciary is to clearly define the parameters of legislative intent, as the passage of any law necessarily creates parties with a vested interest in bypassing or overturning the statute, and in the case of Local 28, Sheet Metal Workers v. EEOC 478 U.S. 421 (1986) the Supreme Court was again tasked with assessing the validity of a law via its method of application. This case of Sheet Metal Workers v. EEOC presented the high court with an opportunity to decisively delineate the remedies afforded to correct violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited employers from discriminating on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. When the New York State Commission for Human Rights identified New York City's Local 28 Joint Apprenticeship Committee (JAC) as a gross violator of Title VII in its hiring practices, filing suit to obtain injunctive relief, the Second Circuit Court ruled in their favor, ordering the JAC to cease and desist racially discriminatory practices (1976). The Second Circuit Court determined that the "Sheet Metal Workers ... had formally excluded Negroes until 1946, and for the next twenty years no Negro became a member of the Local 28 in New York City" (Moreno, 1999) with unofficial exclusion being maintained through an apprenticeship system defined by nepotism and bigotry.