An adverse employment action is a change in employment terms significant enough to support a discrimination claim.

The ADEA prohibits employment discrimination against workers forty and older.

The ADA prohibits disability discrimination and requires reasonable accommodation of qualified individuals.

Cat's paw liability holds an employer responsible where a biased subordinate influenced an unbiased decisionmaker.

Comparator evidence compares an employee's treatment to that of similarly situated employees outside the protected class.

Disparate impact challenges a facially neutral policy that disproportionately affects a protected group.

Disparate treatment is intentional discrimination in which an employer treats an individual less favorably because of a protected characteristic.

Essential job functions are the fundamental duties of a position that an accommodation cannot eliminate.

A failure to accommodate claim alleges an employer did not provide reasonable adjustments enabling a disabled employee to work.

The interactive process is the required dialogue between employer and employee about possible reasonable accommodations.

The McDonnell Douglas framework structures proof in discrimination cases through burden shifting between plaintiff and employer.

A mixed-motive claim alleges a protected characteristic was a motivating factor even if other reasons also contributed.

Pretext is a showing that the employer's stated reason is false and conceals a discriminatory motive.

A prima facie case is the plaintiff's initial showing that raises an inference of discrimination.

A protected class is a characteristic that anti-discrimination law prohibits employers from acting upon.

Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin.

Undue hardship is the ADA defense that an accommodation would impose significant difficulty or expense.