Diversity, Disparate Impact, and Ethics in Business: Implications of the New Haven Firefighters' Case and the Supreme Court's Ricci v. DeStefano Decision

摘要

With the Ricci case, two important legal theories in Civil Rights law clashed: disparate treatment and disparate (or adverse) impact. Since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it has been illegal for employers to discriminate in hiring, firing, promoting, training, and so on on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, and national origin. In 1971, the Supreme Court case Griggs v. Duke Power established disparate impact as also illegal, that is, a neutral policy or test that nevertheless produces results supporting prior discriminatory practices is illegal. This concept was codified in federal law in 1991. In 2009, the Ricci case substantially undermined disparate impact, but on narrow grounds. Therefore, employers are faced with the frying pan or the fire. Organizations and companies could benefit from some suggestions in this article as they attempt to craft personnel policies in the wake of Ricci.