Pleading disparate impact in civil rights lawsuit

Lawyers’ Forum

By Joseph M. Gagliardo and Darin Williams

Joseph M. Gagliardo and Darin Williams are lawyers at Laner Muchin Ltd.

Posted October 1, 2019 3:37 PM

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently clarified the pleading standards for Title VII disparate impact claims when it held that seven Hispanic or Latino individuals who applied for employment as line workers at Ford Motor Co.’s Chicago assembly plant on the South Side could move forward with a lawsuit alleging disparate impact discrimination in Ford’s hiring process.Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 allows employees to challenge employment practices alleged to cause a disparate impact “on …

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