Generally, there are three types of claims of discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  These types of claims are as follows: Retaliation, Disparate Treatment and Disparate Impact.

Retaliation is present when an employer takes an adverse employment action against an individual in response to that individual filing a charge of discrimination with the Equal Employment Agency (EEOC) and/or the Ohio Civil Right Commission (OCRC).  While an employer may have no discriminatory intent when taking an adverse employment action against employees who have filed a complaint, employers are well advised to proceed with caution when such situations present themselves.  Stated differently, when disciplining an employee subsequent to their filing a charge of discrimination, an objective basis for such discipline must be present.  Employees will commonly cite the filing of their claim as the real reason the employer took the adverse employment action and cite the temporal proximity of the discipline to the filing as support for their argument.

Disparate impact is when a neutral employment practice, policy and/or selection system has an unjustified adverse affect on a protected class of persons.  For example, Acme Company has a policy that it will only hire employees who have graduated from Affluent High School.  Affluent High's enrollment is 95% Caucasian.  While the hiring practice is neutral on its face, it has an adverse discriminatory impact on racial minorities.

Disparate treatment occurs when an adverse employment action and/or discrimination is imposed upon a person or class of persons solely because they are members of a protected class.  Additionally, disparate treatment is extended to one's religious affiliation.  By way of example, a security company providing luggage screening could not prohibit Muslims from employment merely based upon their religion.  Disparate treatment discrimination may be established by direct or circumstantial evidence. 

Generally, the employee initially must establish that they are: 1. a member of a protected class; 2. qualified for the position in question; 3. suffered an adverse employment action; and 4. their being a member of a protected class is the reason the employer took said adverse employment action.  At that point, the employer must show a non-discriminatory reason for taking such action.  Finally, the burden shifts back to the employee to show the employer's non-discriminatory reason is a mere pretext and that the true motivation is that the employee was a member of the protected class.