alt Hacker News> To measure adverse impact, we apply the EEOC’s “four-fifths rule,” which flags a position when one group is recommended at less than 80% of the rate of the most-recommended group
That seems like a nonsensical way to measure racial discrimination. What could justify it?
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I guess it measures if there's more than one std deviation gap between highest and lowest? Assuming that's twenty percent here
it sounds like how you'd get that kind of metric at least
This is an application of the disparate impact doctrine. Even facially neutral policies are considered suspect if they produce results that correlate against protected groups, irrespective of intent.
This doctrine is the basis for much of employment law. It is a significant reason why employers don't administer IQ tests (or equivalents) to screen candidates since ~the 90s.
A common objection to the doctrine is that it leads to unfalsifiable discrimination claims, which is why it seems nonsensical to you.
>What could justify it?
The assumption that applicants from all races are on average equally qualified for every position. Whole subfields of modern academia are based on that assumption.
‘Every one is the same’, even when one group or another doesn’t like doing some kind of work for some reason.
Because surely no one would have legitimate preferences based on their gender, cultural norms, etc. or real differences in aptitude due to childhood exposure, education, or said norms and preferences.
It's a starting point to flag.
Here's some analysis of what it is and why it's useful as a canary in the coal mine: https://www.prevuehr.com/resources/insights/adverse-impact-a...
The desire to subsidize employment for Democratic constituencies by threatening legal action if they aren't given enough jobs.
Have you googled this? The EEOC is a federal agency, and they've published on this topic quite extensively. The four fifths rule is used to define if there is a "substantially different selection rate". It does not measure racial discrimination. It measures selection rate.
It indicates there may be adverse impact to one group. It specifically is not used to resolve racial discrimination.
It's purely a signal for "we should consider asking more questions, because this appears unusual". That's what your quote says too, it "flags" a low recommendation -- it's indicating further study and investigation is likely warranted.