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 Tennessee, as in other states, employment discrimination laws are designed to protect employees from unfair treatment based on certain protected characteristics. Disparate treatment refers to intentional discrimination where an employer treats an individual or group differently because of their protected characteristic, such as race, color, sex, or religion. Disparate impact, on the other hand, occurs when an employer's neutral policy or practice disproportionately affects members of a protected group, even if there was no intent to discriminate. Both types of discrimination are prohibited under federal laws such as Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA). These laws apply to employers in Tennessee and across the United States. Additionally, the Tennessee Human Rights Act (THRA) and the Tennessee Disability Act (TDA) provide similar protections against employment discrimination at the state level. Employers must ensure that their hiring, promotion, and other employment practices comply with these regulations to avoid liability for disparate treatment or impact.