EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY FOR EMPLOYEES Overview Page 1 of 16 Course Table of Contents

LEGAL THEORIES FOR DETERMINING DISCRIMINATION UNDER EEO LAWS

When investigating complaints of discrimination, it is important for the enforcement agencies to determine if the complainant has been treated differently than others or adversely impacted by a seemingly neutral policy.The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (E.E.O.C.) and the Civil Rights Division of the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) define Disparate Treatment and Adverse Impact as a situation where the Complainant was treated differently than like or similarly situated employees, not of the Complainant's same class, under like or similar circumstances.

In order to determine if a difference in treatment has occurred, the following elements of proof must be reviewed:

1. Whether complainant belongs to a covered class;
2. Whether charging party was harmed by an employment decision;
3. Whether similarly situated employees were not harmed under similar circumstances;
4. Whether there was a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for the employment decision;
5. Whether the employer's stated reason for the employment decision was in fact pretext.

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