Disparate Impact: Is Equal Outcome the Same as Equal Opportunity?

Everyone agrees that discriminating against people based on factors like race or sex is wrong. This is called disparate treatment. But what if a policy that is designed to be non-discriminatory ends up producing undesirable results? That’s called disparate impact. Should a policy be evaluated by the opportunities it creates or by the results it achieves? What are the tradeoffs if a policy is only enforced selectively?

Devon Westhill is President and General Counsel at the Center for Equal Opportunity. He researches, speaks, and writes about civil rights, civil liberties, and related issues such as race relations, social change, and equal opportunity.