This week, President Trump signed an executive order eliminating ‘disparate impact’ liability from federal civil rights enforcement.
The following is a statement from A Better Balance President Inimai Chettiar:
“Disparate impact liability has, for decades, helped promote equity and prevent discrimination against people of color, women, people with disabilities, and the LGBTQ community in the workforce. Disparate impact liability allows workers to challenge practices that appear neutral but disproportionately harm or exclude marginalized groups. For half a century, it has been a well-established legal theory that has helped level the playing field by holding employers to account for actions that not only intend to discriminate, but also those that have discriminatory effect.
The Trump Administration’s executive order urging federal agencies to deprioritize enforcement of these protections is part of their continued efforts over the last few months to erode civil rights, from undermining anti-discrimination protections for federal contract workers, to kneecapping the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s ability to enforce labor laws. We condemn this brazen attack, which seeks only to cause additional harm to workers who are already facing injustice.”
