Discrimination can take many forms, including disparate treatment and disparate impact. Disparate treatment is when an employee is treated less favorably because of their protected characteristic, like a nurse being assigned less desirable shifts because of their national origin. Disparate impact involves policies that, while seemingly neutral, disproportionately affect a particular group. For instance, a hospital policy that requires all nurses to work on religious holidays could disproportionately affect nurses of certain faiths.
