What is meant by the term “disparate impact?”
A. Another method of demonstrating discrimination is called adverse impact or disparate impact. This proof of discrimination applies to situations where there was no intentional discrimination. Rather, the employer used facially neutral practices or criteria that disproportionately affected members of a particular protected group, and the practices or criteria could not be justified by business necessity. Disparate impact has also been used to challenge hiring tests which disproportionately affect racial minorities; height requirements, which can adversely affect certain groups; or use of arrest records (rather than actual convictions) to deny employment, where members of certain minority groups are arrested at rates disproportionate to their representation in the population.
