Griggs v. Duke Power Co. was a Supreme Court case in which a janitor complained that African Americans were kept into low-paying positions. Griggs claimed that Duke's policy discriminated against African-American employees in violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The Supreme Court ruled against Duke Power; It held that Title VII “proscribes not only overt discrimination but also practices that are fair in form, but discriminatory in operation.” The case is significant because the court concluded that the subtle, illegal, purpose of these requirements like standardized testing and a high school education was to safeguard Duke's long-standing policy of giving job preferences to its white employees. African Americans were limited
