Credit Discrimination: 4.3.1.3 Advantages of the Disparate Impact Approach
The disparate impact approach gives the plaintiff another avenue to pursue whenever disparate treatment cannot be proven. Even though the business justification is the real reason for the creditor’s actions, the creditor’s actions may still be illegal if they have a disparate impact on a protected class and use of some other factor would satisfy the creditor’s legitimate business needs with less of a disparate impact. The plaintiff does not need to show intent to discriminate but instead must show that a facially neutral policy has a discriminatory effect.