4 ms·

Disparate Impact is one of the most illiberal policies in America. Companies need to be so careful that their results can't be construed as discriminatory that

Disparate Impact is one of the most illiberal policies in America. Companies need to be so careful that their results can't be construed as discriminatory that they need to go out of their way to make their hiring practices discriminatory. You could have a totally blind hiring process (remove names from resumes, modulate voices in phone interviews, never get any indication of race/sex/age of applicant) and still be liable for a lawsuit if you don't hit the arbitrary "80% rule" benchmark. The Disparate Treatment and Disparate Impact doctrines are diametrically opposed, yet both can lead to lawsuits. When a company gets big enough, it's going to start running into discrimination lawsuits no matter what they do. There are things they can do to offset the damages (diversity training, diversity department, certain types of donations), but the end result can still be settlements in the tens of millions of dollars.

brightball 8y ago
You see a similar thing with real estate in equal housing. I wasn't aware of how strict the standards were for this stuff until I took the license courses last year. If you have a real estate office and somebody walks in, you might offer them a cup of coffee. If another person walks in later and you forget to offer it to them, and that person is part of a protected class...you've just violated equal housing. This is why a lot of real estate offices will put out drinks, snacks and coffee with a "help yourself" sign now. Well over half of the course was basically "how not to get sued."
- KingMob 8y ago
  Well, after decades of things like redlining, I'm ok with the industry trying hard not to discriminate.
  - brightball 8y ago
    While I agree, I was just shocked by the amount of legal stuff around realtors that basically keeps them from being able to be helpful. It has a huge effect on the perception of the profession because people are forbidden from really distinguishing themselves out of fear that a wrong word can get them sued (not just for equal housing but tons of other stuff).
    - shortoncash 8y ago
      I suppose we're fortunate that almost all of the information we want is on the web now. The age when it wasn't on the web was really terrible.

brightball 8y ago

You see a similar thing with real estate in equal housing. I wasn't aware of how strict the standards were for this stuff until I took the license courses last year. If you have a real estate office and somebody walks in, you might offer them a cup of coffee. If another person walks in later and you forget to offer it to them, and that person is part of a protected class...you've just violated equal housing. This is why a lot of real estate offices will put out drinks, snacks and coffee with a "help yourself" sign now. Well over half of the course was basically "how not to get sued."

KingMob 8y ago
Well, after decades of things like redlining, I'm ok with the industry trying hard not to discriminate.
- brightball 8y ago
  While I agree, I was just shocked by the amount of legal stuff around realtors that basically keeps them from being able to be helpful. It has a huge effect on the perception of the profession because people are forbidden from really distinguishing themselves out of fear that a wrong word can get them sued (not just for equal housing but tons of other stuff).
  - shortoncash 8y ago
    I suppose we're fortunate that almost all of the information we want is on the web now. The age when it wasn't on the web was really terrible.