Ward’s Cove Packing Co., Inc. v. Atonio

In Ward's Cove Packing Co., Inc. v. Atonio (1989), the U.S. Supreme Court placed significant limitations on the theory of disparate impact. The ruling shifted the burden of proof to plaintiffs, requiring them to demonstrate that employer practices causing disparate impacts were not business necessities. Additionally, plaintiffs had to specifically identify which business practices led to these impacts and show that employers refused to adopt alternative practices that could meet their needs.1

This decision was later addressed by the Civil Rights Act of 1991, which codified the disparate impact theory into Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. While this act superseded the requirement for plaintiffs to prove a practice was not a business necessity, it generally still mandated that plaintiffs identify the challenged business practices with specificity.1