This section contains the nature of the case and procedural background.

Wards Cove Packing Co. (D) was an Alaskan fish cannery business. Work done at D's businesses was seasonal. There were essentially two types of jobs here: cannery jobs (unskilled, low-paying jobs) and noncannery jobs (skilled and higher-paying). Filipino immigrants and Alaska natives tended to get the cannery jobs, and whites tended to get the noncannery jobs. A class of nonwhite cannery workers (P) filed an action under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. P claimed that D's hiring practices were discriminatory. The district court ruled that the disparity between the cannery workers' and noncannery workers' racial composition was a prima facie Title VII violation. The Ninth Circuit affirmed. The Supreme Court granted review.

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