Alerts

Supreme Court Recognizes ADEA Disparate Impact Claims

May 5, 2005

On March 30, 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Smith v. City of Jackson, lowered the legal threshold for employees pursuing claims for age discrimination. Smith holds that the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (the “ADEA”) authorizes disparate impact claims. The Court, however, limited the impact of its ruling by also concluding that an employer can defeat a disparate impact claim by showing that the challenged facially neutral practice or policy was based on a "reasonable factor other than age." Disparate impact claims focus on whether an employer's neutral policy adversely affects one or more legally protected groups regardless of the employer's intent. By contrast, disparate treatment claims require proof of discriminatory intent.