Disparate treatment is a form of unlawful discrimination in US labor law. It occurs when an employer treats an employee or a potential employee differently because of their protected characteristic, such as race, religion, color, sex, national origin, etc. . Disparate treatment is intentional discrimination in the form of unequal treatment, which is directly given to an employee. It is different from disparate impact, which is indirect discrimination. Disparate impact occurs when a seemingly neutral workplace practice unduly impacts a protected group, usually unintentionally. To prove a disparate treatment discrimination claim, an employee must show that they were subjected to different treatment because of their protected status. Examples of disparate treatment in business include running criminal background checks only for new hires that come from a particular background, ethnicity, or national origin.