May 14 is the 40th anniversary of Green vs. McDonnell Douglas. The case was the culmination of venerable activist Percy Green’s racial discrimination fight against McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing Corporation).
Under the leadership of Percy Green, the organization ACTION busted loose jobs for black folks during the 1960s, especially for black men. Utility companies like Laclede Gas and corporations like Southwestern Bell (now AT&T) often went into siege mode when ACTION put them on “the list.”
Many people directly credit these efforts for how they received their own job. Sylvester Brown is one such person who rarely misses the opportunity to publicly acknowledge who was responsible for getting his job at Laclede Gas Company.
ACTION used aggressive and creative tactics in the 1960s to knock down the racist doors that led to more employment. There were sit-ins, stick-ins, paint-ins, chain-ins, walk-ins and whatever was necessary to make their point. For those who were around during this time, these are vivid memories.
Most people in St. Louis are unaware of Green’s tangle with one of the world’s biggest and most powerful multinationals. Those in the legal arena are most aware as it is a case that is likely to turn up in a law school syllabus for mandatory study and gets written about in law review publications.
Green filed a discrimination suit against the company in 1964 after he was laid off allegedly due to workforce reduction. Green declared the layoff was retaliatory because McDonnell Douglas had been the target of ACTION for not hiring more black workers. When the company opened up Green’s former job and he applied for it, he was denied. Now the company’s motives were clear and Green declared them unfair and racist. He filed suit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in 1964.
Green’s case was heard in the U.S. District Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals, and ultimately before the U.S. Supreme Court. St. Louis civil rights attorney Lou Gilden argued the case before the High Court on March 28, 1973. Warren E. Burger was the Chief Justice. On May 14 of the same year, SCOTUS ruled in favor of Percy Green. The decision was unanimous, 9-0.
The decision was a landmark case because it completely changed the way racial discrimination cases had been viewed. It now put the burden on the employer to prove they had not been discriminatory in their policies. Before this case, plaintiffs had to prove “intent,” which was damn near impossible to do. Since its issuance in 1973, all the federal courts have subsequently adopted the framework set out in this opinion for all claims of employment discrimination that are not based on direct evidence of discriminatory intent.
Green had no idea the case would go all the way to the top or that the case would be end up in the history books. While he was motivated to challenge an injustice that started off with his own employment, Green knew that the same racial discrimination was happening to many other black workers at the time. The fight was much bigger than him.
At a time when workers’ rights are under assault in this country, it may feel like were going in circles. The United Mineworkers Union had to file a suit against Patriot and Peabody Coal companies when they tried to pull an okey-doke on workers’ benefits under the cloak of bankruptcy. Fast food workers are fighting for livable wages and better working conditions. The Green vs. McDonnell Douglas decision is affirmation that it is important for workers to stand up and for the community to stand with them.
