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84 Ind. L.J. 773 (2009)
Toward a Coherent Test for Disparate Impact Discrimination

handle is hein.journals/indana84 and id is 779 raw text is: Toward a Coherent Test for Disparate Impact Discrimination JENNIFER L. PERES* Statistics are generally plaintiffs'primary evidence in establishing a prima facie case of disparate impact discrimination. Thus, the use, or misuse, ofstatistics dictates case outcomes. Lacking a coherent test for disparate impact, courts choose between the two prevailing tests, statistical significance and the four-fifths rule, in deciding cases, and these tests frequently produce opposite results. Litigants thus face considerable uncertainty and the risk that a judge's preferred outcome will dictate which test is applied. This Article recognizes that the two tests perform complementary functions that both play a useful role in determining whether liability should be imposed. statistical significance establishes that the challengedpractice likely caused the disparity, and the four-fifths rule establishes that the disparity is large enough to matter. Rather than choose between the two tests, courts should use a uniform and coherent standard that combines both them. Determining the parameters of this standard involves difficult policy decisions about the purposes of the doctrine as well as who, and to what extent, should bear the risk of error. INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................... 773 I. UNDERSTANDING DISPARATE IMPACT ................................................................. 776 A . THE D OCTRINE ......................................................................................... 776 B. THE STATISTICAL TESTS ........................................................................... 780 II. EVALUATING THE Two TESTS ........................................................................... 787 A . D IFFERENT RESULTS ................................................................................ 788 B. DIFFERENT FUNCTIONS ............................................................................ 790 C. USING THE TESTS TOGETHER ................................................................... 792 III. IDENTIFYING THE APPROPRIATE TEST .............................................................. 793 A. CHOOSING THE STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE LEVEL .................................. 793 B. CHOOSING THE PRACTICAL SIGNIFICANCE LEVEL ..................................... 798 C ON CLU SION .......................................................................................................... 802 INTRODUCTION The famous adage There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics' sheds light on the difficulties courts face when they rely on statistics in deciding cases. * Associate, Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel, P.L.L.C., Washington, D.C.; J.D., Yale Law School; M.A., B.A., Emory University. I am especially indebted to Brianne Gorod and Jim Metzger for their helpful suggestions on numerous drafts. I also wish to thank the Honorable Morris S. Arnold, Richard Brooks, Erin Morrow, Vicki Schulz, and my Statistics and the Law students at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law for their inspiration and encouragement. 1. 1 SAMUEL LANGHORNE CLEMENS, MARK TwAIN's AuToBIOGRAPHY 246 (1924) (attributing the remark to Benjamin Disraeli); see also DARRELL HUFF, How TO Lm wrrH STATISTICS (1954).

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