More Thoughts on SCOTUS Lewis v. Chicago

Last week, I blogged about the Supreme Court's opinion in Lewis v. City of Chicago. The Supreme Court held that disparate impact claims arise upon the application of an employment practice as opposed to the practice's initial adoption.

I spoke with Judy Greenwald of Business Insurance magazine regarding the case and she published a pair of articles featuring a quote from that conversation.

First, in Black Firefighter Applicants Can Sue Chicago: Court; and then, in High Court Lowers Bar on Discrimination Suits:

Philip K. Miles III, an associate with State College, Pa.-based McQuaide Blasko Attorneys at Law, said the ruling "should serve as a reminder to employers that they need to look at their practices, even if they've been using them for years, to make sure they're not having a disparate impact now."

I think that is the main takeaway for employers: assess your practices for disparate impact.

This week I have a few more posts on Lewis planned. Specifically: Combining Lewis and Ricci (last year's famous white New Haven firefighters case ); and explaining why Lewis and Ledbetter (controversial case that spawned the Fair Pay Act) are consistent.

Posted by Philip Miles, an employment lawyer with McQuaide Blasko in State College, Pennsylvania.