Appeals Court Rejects NY Social Worker Licensing Test Bias Suit

A group of Black and Hispanic test takers failed to show a nonprofit that designs social work licensing evaluations broke civil rights laws by creating an exam that allegedly favored White candidates, a panel of federal appeals judges ruled.

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed a lower court’s decision Friday rejecting the claims under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, since the social workers don’t have an employer-employee relationship with the Association of Social Work Boards. It also rejected plaintiffs’ claims under Section 1981 and New York state human rights law.

The plaintiffs sued ...