Expansion of Disparate Impact Codification

Expansion of Disparate Impact Codification

SB3777 / HB5386: The Civil Rights Safeguard Act

SB3777 / HB5386 is an initiative of the Illinois Department of Human Rights, the agency responsible for enforcing the Illinois Human Rights Act (IHRA). This amendment to the IHRA will safeguard civil rights protections for Illinoisans where discrimination laws apply. This bill solidifies the clear standard in Illinois law that employers and businesses have been using for more than 50 years.

Disparate Impact Background:

• Disparate impact discrimination law recognizes that policies that seem neutral can be discriminatory in practice and effect, if they impose an unjustified disproportionate harm on protected groups.
• Over the past 50 years, the law has recognized disparate impact discrimination in contexts such as Employment, Housing and Education.

What the Bill Does:

• This bill amends the IHRA to preserve protections from disparate impact discrimination by codifying them across the Articles of the state statute.
• The IHRA already codifies these protections in the Housing context (Article 3). The bill extends this codification to Employment (Article 2), Financial Credit (Article 4), and Public Accommodations, including Education and Health Care (Article 5).
• This bill brings consistency to all Articles of the IHRA.
• The bill also includes a liberal construction clause to make clear that federal courts and agencies set the floor, not the ceiling, for civil rights protections in Illinois. Courts have upheld similar language in other state human rights statutes (like New York and Washington).

Why We Need to Protect Civil Rights at the State Level:

This bill ensures that disparate impact discrimination protections, a key legal theory under the Civil Rights Act of 1964, will remain the law in Illinois, even as federal agencies are deprioritizing and rolling back disparate impact enforcement nationwide.

The bill preserves these protections for:

• Survivors of domestic and sexual violence who are disproportionately female
• Black and Brown homeowners and consumers who face barriers from redlining
• Immigrants and naturalized citizens who face barriers to language access
• Disabled veterans who face housing voucher-based discrimination
• LGBTQ+ persons who face sex discrimination
• Students with disabilities who face inequitable school policies

Why Disparate Impact Discrimination Law is Important:

• Discrimination isn't always obvious. Sometimes, unfairness hides in everyday rules or systems.
• It helps uncover hidden barriers. These might affect people based on race, gender, age, disability, or other protected characteristics.
• It keeps institutions accountable. By looking at outcomes, in addition to intentions, we can make sure policies are truly fair for everyone.
• It reserves clear, consistent legal standards. By enshrining the long-settled legal precedent into our state statute, we can guarantee that existing interpretation of civil rights law will continue to exist for all Illinoisans.

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