Is Disparate Impact Dead? DOJ’s OLC Opinion Signals Massive Shift in Employer Liability

Short summary

DOJ's Office of Legal Counsel issued an opinion significantly narrowing disparate-impact liability under Title VII by raising the business-necessity bar for employers and requiring plaintiffs to demonstrate specific causation and equally-effective alternative hiring practices. This fundamentally reshapes employer liability in selection procedures.

• •Business-necessity defense now requires only that practices be reasonable/helpful, not rigorously validated
• •Plaintiffs must prove specific employment practice caused disparate impact, not rely on statistical workforce disparities
• •Plaintiffs must identify available alternative practices with equal effectiveness but lower disparate impact

Generated with AI, which can make mistakes.