The U.S. Department of Education has scrapped long-standing rules that held institutions accountable for unintentional discrimination, even when statistical patterns revealed unequal treatment. The move reverses decades-old policies that allowed for legal challenges based on disparate impact, where policies or practices disproportionately affected certain groups despite not being explicitly discriminatory. Critics argue the change weakens protections against systemic bias, while supporters claim it reduces burdensome legal risks for schools and lenders. The decision marks a significant shift in how discrimination cases may be addressed under federal education law.
The U.S. Department of Education on Thursday eliminated regulations going back more than 60 years that recognized liability for disparate impact, such as when statistics demonstrate a discriminatory ...
