Arthur Lewis v. City of Chicago (Amicus) Historic Case

At a Glance

Date Filed: 

June 4, 2008

Current Status 

CCR joined 35 organizations in an amicus brief for an application for writ of certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the court to overturn the Seventh Circuit's decision.

Case Description 

The NAACP represented a class of over 6,000 African Americans in Chicago who applied to become firefighters. They won the case in 2005 when a federal court found that the hiring exam had illegally discriminated against them. However, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the ruling, on the basis that the plaintiffs had filed their complaints after the Title VII statute of limitations had expired.