Adverse Impact Essay

Adverse impact refers to any employer policy or practice that creates a negative disparity in employment, placement, or promotion between any protected class under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and other employees or applicants. Establishment of an adverse impact plays a central role in illegal discrimination lawsuits. The intent of the policy or practice is irrelevant in determining whether discrimination occurred; the plaintiff need only show an adverse impact resulted from the employment practice in question.
In order to prove an employer’s practice or policy creates an adverse impact, a plaintiff may use any one of five methods:  Disparate Rejection Rates: Federal agencies generally regard a selection rate less than 80% of the rate …show more content…
The burden of proof would then fall to the employer to demonstrate an overriding business purpose for the practice. The best advice to employers seeking to avoid claims of illegal discrimination is relatively simple—be prepared to show a business necessity for any practice or policy, especially those related to hiring, promotion, or compensation. For instance, a policy requiring workers to be able to lift 50 pounds may well have an adverse impact on older or disabled applicants. However, if the employer in question operates a warehouse where workers must regularly move large boxes, the requirement may be entirely reasonable. HR professionals should carefully review job applications, interview questions, selection tests, employee handbooks and other similar materials to ensure their content can be clearly defended as a business necessity. If it cannot, the prudent course of action would be to remove that content which cannot be defended.
In the example of social media above, it would be extremely difficult to show a business necessity for reviewing an applicant’s social media posts in advance of hire unless the job in question directly related to their use