The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled Friday that there could be circumstances where a putative class action suit alleging employment discrimination could rely on statistics alone to show discriminatory intent. But the statistics that New York City sanitation employees cited on racial make-up in the top ranks did not convince the panel that there was discriminatory intent in the department’s promotional practices.

As a result, the panel on Friday upheld a lower court’s dismissal of the employees’ case.