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Article: Personnel Administrator of Massachusetts v. Feeney
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
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PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATOR OF MASSACHUSETTS V. FEENEY
PERSONNEL ADMINISTRATOR OF MASSACHUSETTS V. FEENEY,
442 U.S. 256 (1979), a Supreme Court case that considered whether a Massachusetts law giving veterans a lifetime preference in filling open civil service positions discriminated against women in violation of the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Helen B. Feeney was a civil servant who received higher grades on civil service examinations than male veterans. Because of the preference law, however, males repeatedly were promoted over her. Twice the federal district court declared the law unconstitutional. The state of Massachusetts, supported by the solicitor general ...