Using statistical evidence in employment cases (Part III)

(2) after accounting for relevant employment factors, does the individual’s protected class status remain a statistically important factor?

This question is typically used by the statistical expert when assessing the importance of the employee’s protected group status in the selection or pay process when there are observable employment related differences among the individuals being analyzed. For instance, it is generally recognized that an individual employee’s salary will tend to be related to factors such as the type of job performed, seniority, education, as well as company specific factors such as time in salary grade.

In these types of discrimination analyses, the expert will develop statistical models, such as linear regression models, to account for the effect that these employment factors and the protected group status collectively have on the selection or compensation process. In these types of models, a finding that the individual’s protected group member status remains a statistically important factor even after accounting for the observable employment related differences among the individuals, is typically viewed as suggestive of a nonneutral employment process.