Dodging Disparate Impact Claims

There has been significant buzz lately regarding the risk of discrimination in the sharing economy. Not only has the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) published its intent to prioritize protections in the on-demand economy in its recently published Strategic Enforcement Plan, but sharing economy businesses have faced additional scrutiny surrounding response times to customers of different races. 

As the industry grows, academics and the government alike are likely to keep examining the operation of sharing businesses. For example, a recent study out of Northeastern University suggests a negative correlation between the sharing economy worker's gender and perceived race and their rating scores. The researchers did not find evidence of deliberate bias by the companies, but did observe bias in customer feedback.