The Office of Legal Counsel’s Opinion on the “Constitutionality of DisparateImpact Liability Under Title VII”: What You Need to Know

Across America, workers are struggling to find living-wage jobs to support themselves and their families. Too often, qualified workers are blocked from getting hired and promoted due to employer policies that screen out applicants based on factors unrelated to whether the applicant could do the job, from unnecessary college degree requirements and credit checks to commute-radius limitations and AI resume reviews. The Trump-Vance administration is making this problem worse.

In June, the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) released a memo claiming the U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission's guidance on disparate impact discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is unconstitutional. The OLC opinion is wrong on the facts and wrong on the law. Only Congress and the courts have authority to change the law or its impact.

In response, Democracy Forward, LDF, the ACLU, AAJC, Equal Rights Advocates, LatinoJustice, and AAJC released an explainer laying out what OLC got wrong and why employers must continue to take steps to address workplace policies and practices that cause unjustified disparate impacts. Read it here and get the facts!