Frank C. Morris, Jr., Member of the Firm in the Litigation, Employee Benefits & Executive Compensation, and Employment, Labor & Workforce Management practices, in the firm’s Washington, DC, office, was quoted in the Bloomberg Law Daily Labor Report, in “Trump Disparate Impact Order Shifts Agency Civil Rights Mission,” by Jennifer Bennett and Patrick Dorrian. (Read the full version – subscription required.)
Following is an excerpt:
The Trump administration’s mandate that the EEOC stop using the disparate impact liability theory will alter the agency’s enforcement mission, erode minorities’ civil rights, and open cases for private litigation, attorneys say. …
Priority Shift, Effect …
It’s hard to say how many EEOC disparate impact cases there are because of the absolute bar on disclosure at the investigative stage, said Frank C. Morris Jr. of Epstein Becker & Green PC. The agency may start out probing alleged disparate treatment and broaden its inquiry into disparate impact, he said. …
Arrow for Employers …
Trump’s order directs the EEOC to review its “existing” consent decrees with employers. These settlements typically include injunctive relief such as policy reforms and training, usually with years of agency monitoring. …
The commission must convince the judge overseeing a case to drop any remaining anti-bias monitoring or similar provisions, Epstein Becker’s Morris said. “We’ll have to wait and see how that plays out,” he said. …
Carefully analyzing the potential effects of existing or planned job practices can still be a useful tool for employers, including because of the risks of private disparate impact suits, Morris said. But a protected-class status can’t be the basis for decision-making, he said.
