In the case of General Building Contractors Association, Inc. v. Pennsylvania et al., 1981, the U.S Supreme Court ruled that a non-discriminatory association cannot be held liable for its members' discriminatory practices unless it can be proven that the association intentionally engaged in discrimination. The case arose when Pennsylvania and several other plaintiffs sued a group of contractor associations under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, alleging they had discriminated against black individuals by not providing them with equal opportunities for apprenticeship programs. However, there was no evidence to suggest these associations themselves practiced racial discrimination or intended to support such behavior among their members. Therefore, while individual contractors who were found guilty could be penalized under Title VII's provisions on employment discrimination based on race, color, religion or national origin; an organization like General Building Contractors Association couldn't be held responsible without proof of intentional discriminatory conduct.

In the dissenting opinion for General Building Contractors Association, Inc. v. Pennsylvania et al., Justice Stevens argued that the majority's decision was based on a misinterpretation of both legislative intent and previous court rulings related to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. He contended that Congress intended to prohibit not only intentional discrimination but also practices that have discriminatory effects, regardless of whether they were motivated by racial animus or not. Furthermore, he disagreed with the majority's view that an employer must be aware it is engaging in illegal conduct under Section 1981 for liability to arise; instead, he believed any racially discriminatory impact should suffice for a violation claim under this section. The justice also criticized the majority’s reliance on Teamsters v United States as precedent since it did not directly address issues relevant to this case.