Roles for Implicit Bias Science in Antidiscrimination Law

At present, and also for the foreseeable future, there is no practical method of using either laboratory or field experimentation to choose between the implicit- bias-as-cause theory and the shared-causes theory.8 It is therefore reasonable to treat implicit bias either as itself a cause of discrimination or as an indicator of a not-yet-identified precursor of both IAT-measured bias and the discri. [...] The best anecdotal evi- dence for lack of awareness of discriminatory implicit biases is the large propor- tion of people who, on self-testing with one or more of the freely available on- 176 Dædalus, the Journal of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences Anthony G. [...] The decision- making executives at Price Waterhouse gave the explanation that her assertive personality, something they regarded as appropriate for a male occupant of the position for which she was being considered, was inappropriate as a trait of the 182 Dædalus, the Journal of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences Anthony G. [...] deny equal protection of the laws to any person with- in its jurisdiction”), the intent requirement translates to the proposition that the defendant did the action purposefully to cause harm to a member (or members) of the plaintiff’s protected class. [...] How to deal with the great amount of discrimination that continues to oc-cur in employment? The specifications of Titles VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, including modifications added in subsequent con- gressional amendments and in Supreme Court and circuit Courts of Appeals prec- edents, fall well short of covering what scholarly and scientific work now identi- fy as sources of employm.