Pynes Text, the Author Provides Term Paper

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Allegations of discrimination can be justified based upon an argument of disparate impact and disparate treatment. Disparate treatment is the more familiar of the two concepts: it is when an employer treats a member of a protected category differently than other employees, such as prohibiting women from working in certain occupations outright. For a case of disparate treatment to be valid in a court of law, the employer must manifest a clear discriminatory intent (Payne 2009: 56). Disparate impact is when the policies of the employer have a disparate impact upon a historically-discriminated against group (Payne 2009: 57).

Disparate impact allegations do not have to prove intentional employer bias. For example, In the case of the 1971 U.S. Supreme Court case Griggs v. Duke Power Co., the Court found that the requirement that all applicants possess a high school diploma requirement resulted in discrimination against African-Americans. 34% of white males in the state had completed high school while only 12% of African-American males had high school diplomas.
Given that the power company "did not demonstrate [a] link between high school diploma and job performance" this was found to be discriminatory (EEO, 2001, HR Guide to the Internet)

In light of cases such as Griggs v. Duke Power Co, HR departments must be more vigilant than ever before in justifying the requirements for positions, to avoid allegations of disparate impact. To minimize the fostering of a hostile workplace environment, most major organizations instate sensitivity training as part of every new recruit's orientation, and also have specific personnel to mediate any potential conflicts that might ensue due to prejudice and discrimination. It is also necessary that HR has legal personnel to keep abreast of changes within current EEOC law. The most recently passed EEOC law, The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008 (GINA) made it illegal to discriminate against employees because of genetic information (Laws enforced by the EEOC, 2011, EEOC)......

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"Pynes Text The Author Provides", 10 June 2011, Accessed.4 June. 2026,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/pynes-text-author-provides-42423