Disparate impact and disparate treatment refer to discriminatory employment practices. The distinction between these two types of discriminatory practices often focuses on the employer’s intent.

Disparate impact is often referred to as unintentional discrimination and disparate treatment is often referred to as intentional discrimination. The terms adverse impact and adverse treatment are sometimes used in place of disparate impact and disparate treatment.

Disparate impact occurs when policies, practices, rules, or other processes that appear to be neutral result in a disproportionate impact on a protected group of persons.

For example, testing all applicants and using results from that test that will unintentionally eliminate certain minority applicants disproportionately is disparate impact. And testing a particular skill of only certain minority applicants is disparate treatment.

Federal laws prohibit job discrimination based on race, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, religion, age, military status, equal pay, pregnancy, disability, or genetic information and prohibit both disparate treatment and disparate impact discrimination.


In California, both disparate impact and disparate treatment are recognized forms of employment discrimination that are prohibited under state and federal laws. Disparate treatment refers to intentional discrimination where an employer treats an individual or a group of individuals differently based on a protected characteristic, such as race or gender. An example would be requiring only applicants of a certain race to pass a specific test. Disparate impact, on the other hand, involves employment practices that, while neutral on their face, disproportionately affect members of a protected group and cannot be justified by business necessity. An example is a standardized test that, although applied to all applicants, results in a significantly lower pass rate for a particular minority group. In California, the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) provides protections against both types of discrimination and covers a broad range of protected characteristics, including those listed under federal laws such as the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and others. Employers found to be engaging in either disparate treatment or disparate impact discrimination may face legal consequences, including compensatory damages and injunctive relief.