disproportionate impact

Disproportionate impact refers to the effect of a practice that appears neutral on its own, but actually has an unequal, negative impact on a specific group of people. Disproportionate impact may be present in a government or other organization’s policies and practices, even if unintentional or there is no stated plan to discriminate. For example, in Griggs v. Duke Power Co., the Supreme Court held that the defendant’s employment practice of requiring intelligence tests that had no indication on a potential employee’s performance of the functions of the job in order to be employed, had a disproportionate impact on African Americans. 

Disproportionate and disparate impact are commonly interchanged, with disparate impact being recognized most often in constitutional law. In order to prove a facially neutral policy is unconstitutionally discriminatory, a claimant must first show the court that a disproportionate/disparate impact exists. Then, the policyholder has the burden of proving their legitimate reasoning for their policy and there was no other way to achieve their intended result without the unintentional discrimination. 

[Last reviewed in March of 2025 by the Wex Definitions Team]

Keywords

• constitutional law

Wex

• CIVICS
• civil rights
• the Constitution
• wex definitions
• constitutional law
• government