Legal Definitions - disparate treatment

Disparate treatment is when an employer treats individuals who belong to a protected class differently than others. Protected classes include race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. This type of discrimination is intentional and violates anti-discrimination laws.

• An employer only hires men for a particular job, even though women are equally qualified.
• An employer pays Hispanic employees less than non-Hispanic employees for the same job.
• An employer promotes only employees who share the same religion as the employer, even though other employees are more qualified.

These examples illustrate how individuals who belong to a protected class are treated differently than others by their employer. In each case, the employer is intentionally discriminating against the employee based on their protected status.