Disparate impact cases concern the potential adverse effect seemingly neutral employment
practices, such as passing a pre-employment test or possessing a fixed level of education,
have on minority applicants. Their purpose is to eliminate discrimination by subterfuge, i.e.,
imposing a requirement that eliminates many minority individuals who could do the job but who
do not meet the requirement. When a significantly higher fraction of applicants from minority
groups fail the requirement compared to majority applicants, the requirement needs to be shown
to be job-related. Statistical techniques used at the various stages of a disparate impact
claim are described. Properties of the expectancy curve, which describes the utility of a
pre-employment test and helps in defining a band of scores defining "equivalently skilled"
applicants are discussed.