These two cases, decided a year apart, further legitimized the use of affirmative action as a tool for increasing minority employment. In the Weber case, the Supreme Court in 1979 ruled that an affirmative action plan for on-the-job training that mandated a one-for-one quota for minority workers admitted to the program was legal, since the plan was a temporary measure designed to correct an imbalance in the workforce.

In Fullilove, the Supreme Court upheld the “minority business enterprise” provision of Public Works Employment Act of 1977, which requires that at least 10 percent of federal funds granted for local public works projects must be used by the state or local grantee to procure services or supplies from businesses owned by minority group members.