DISPARATE IMPACT & DISPARATE TREATMENT
EMPLOYMENT LAW 434

There are two types of employment discrimination claims, disparate impact or disparate treatment. In a disparate impact claim there need not be proof of intentional discrimination, but rather proof that the employer utilizes employment practices that are facially neutral in their treatment of different groups but in fact fall more harshly on one group than another and cannot be justified by business necessity. In a disparate treatment claim, the worker seeks to prove the employer's discriminatory motive (HR Guide, 2004).

DISPARATE IMPACT
A black employee at Fort Worth Bank & Trust was turned down four times for a promotion to a supervisory position. This was in favor of white applicants. Fort Worth Bank used several things in accessing her candidacy. In assessing her candidacy, the bank used interviews, rating scales, and experience requirements which had not been subjected to validation procedures (Watson v. Fort Worth Bank, APA Website, 1988).
After she was turned down for the fourth time, the employee brought a claim under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The Fort Worth Bank & Trust claimed  that interviews and rating scales should not be subjected to the validation procedures required in disparate impact cases, i.e., that it should not be required to show that the criteria are job-related. The district court agreed,   disallowing the plaintiff's claim under the disparate impact theory of Title VII. The court then analyzed the employees claim under the disparate treatment theory, which requires a plaintiff to show intentional discrimination of a protected class. The court ruled that, while the employee had made a case of discrimination, the b ...