Disparate Treatment vs Disparate Impact Cases

In the case of Peterson v. Hewlett-Packard, 358 F.3d 599 (9th Cir. 2004), Richard Peterson sued Hewlett-Packard ("HP") after it fired him for defying its employment diversity program. Specifically, HP instituted a workplace diversity campaign that included displaying posters that showed photographs of various people captioned with the words "Black," "Blonde," "Old," "Gay," and "Hispanic" (Peterson, 2004, p. 601). Peterson objected to the poster of the "Gay" person, claiming that his religion condemned homosexuality. Thus, he posted biblical passages that he believed condemned homosexuality in his cubicle. After Peterson refused to remove the passages, HP supervisors terminated him for failing to comply with the diversity program.

Peterson sued HP, claiming religious discrimination in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Peterson, 2004, p. 601). Specifically, he argued that HP engaged in disparate treatment by terminating him on account of his religious views (Peterson, 2004, p. 601). The Ninth Circuit stated that Peterson was required to establish that his job performance was satisfactory and tha