SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS AFFIRMATIVE ACTION FOR WOMEN
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld
affirmative action programmes designed to promote women in the
workplace yesterday, handing President Reagan's civil rights
policy a major defeat.
    Tn a 6-3 decision, the court held that the civil rights
laws allow employers to take the gender of workers into account
to improve female representation in the workforce.
    The Reagan administration had charged that affirmative
action is reverse discrimination.
    The case involved the 1980 promotion of a female road yard
clerk, Diane Joyce, over a more qualified male, Paul Johnson.
 REUTER
