S. 2343 — Restoring Equal Opportunity Act

This section expresses the sense of the Senate that it is the policy of the United States to eliminate the use of disparate-impact liability (i.e., liability based on policies with unintended discriminatory effects on protected groups) in all contexts to the maximum degree possible to avoid violating the Constitution, federal civil rights laws, and basic American ideals.

This section prohibits claims under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 alleging an unlawful employment practice based on disparate impact. It defines disparate impact, for these purposes, as the result of a facially neutral employment practice—without intent to discriminate—that has a disproportionate effect on certain groups, including protected classes.

This section prohibits claims alleging discriminatory housing practices based on disparate impact under the Fair Housing Act (Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968). It defines disparate impact, for these purposes, as the result of a facially neutral housing practice without intent to discriminate that disproportionately affects certain groups, including protected classes.

This section nullifies the force and effect of specified Presidential approvals of regulations promulgated under section 602 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d-1), which authorizes federal agencies to enforce Title VI's prohibition on race, color, or national origin discrimination in federally assisted programs (42 U.S.C. 2000d). The nullified approvals are (1) the approval of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission regulations relating to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (31 Fed. Reg. 10269, July 29, 1966), as applied to 28 CFR 42.104(b)(2) in full; and (2) the approval of Department of Justice Title VI regulations (38 Fed. Reg. 17955, July 5, 1973), as applied to the phrase "or effect" in both places it appears in 28 CFR 42.104(b)(3), to 28 CFR 42.104(b)(6)(ii) in full, and to 28 CFR 42.104(c)(2) in full.