Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Westinghouse Electric Corp.

**EEOC v. Westinghouse Electric Corp. (1986)** **What Happened:** The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued Westinghouse Electric Corporation, claiming the company's hiring and employment practices unfairly harmed certain groups of workers. The EEOC argued that even though Westinghouse may not have intentionally discriminated, their employment policies had a "disparate impact" - meaning they affected some groups of people more negatively than others in ways that violated employment discrimination laws. **What the Court Decided:** The court ruled in favor of the EEOC on the disparate impact claims. The judge found that Westinghouse's employment practices did indeed have an unfair impact on protected groups of workers. As a result, the court ordered Westinghouse to make changes to fix these problems and implement new measures to prevent future discrimination. **Why This Matters for Workers:** This case reinforces an important principle: employers can be held accountable for discrimination even when they don't intend to discriminate. If a company's policies or practices disproportionately harm certain groups of workers, those practices may be illegal. Workers don't have to prove their employer meant to discriminate - showing the unfair impact can be enough to win a discrimination case.