Discriminatory practices can typically be grouped under one of four categories: disparate treatment, disparate impact, harassment, and retaliation. Disparate treatment is treating individuals differently in employment situations because of their membership in a protected class.
Most people think of discrimination as being obvious and intentional in nature, occurring when a protected classification is used as the basis for an employment decision. Not hiring a qualified woman simply because she is a female would be obvious and intentional discrimination.
Under this definition, if someone is turned down for an employment opportunity and can show that it was because of a particular attribute that is protected by law - religion, sex, race, or whatever protected class is at issue - that individual has the right to file charges against the employer. This type of discrimination is known as disparate treatment.
In disparate treatment cases, an individual is treated differently because of the characteristic that defines the protected class. Disparate treatment also means that the company intentionally discriminated against a person or persons because of the characteristic, and a BFOQ for that characteristic does not exist.
An employee who believes that he or she has been the victim of disparate treatment must make a prima facie case, or preliminary case, using the McDonnell Douglas test, named after the McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Greene 1973 U.S. Supreme Court case that identified the four-step test. A legitimate reason for an employment decision exists, but the decision was also motivated by an illegitimate reason (such as membership in a protected class).
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