What are the Three Main Types of Lending Discrimination?

1) Disparate Treatment: Mortgage application is denied because of consideration of the applicant’s race or other protected characteristic.

Rejected Applicant (Plaintiff) must show:
   (1) Membership in a protected class
   (2) He or she applied for and was qualified for a loan with a lending institution;
   (3) The loan was rejected despite his or her qualifications; and
   (4) The lending institution continued to approve loans for applicants with similar qualifications.

Testers (similarly situated applicant, not a member of plaintiff’s protected class) are often utilized to prove disparate treatment.

2) Disparate Impact: A lending institution’s facially neutral policy has a significant and adverse affect on a group of people made up of one or more protected characteristics. There must be a causal connection between policy and adverse affect.

Criteria for evaluating disparate impact claims:
   (1) The strength of the plaintiff's statistical showing;
   (2) The legitimacy of the defendant's interest in taking the action complained of;
   (3) Some indication-which might be suggestive rather than conclusive-of discriminatory intent; and
   (4) The extent to which relief could be obtained by limiting interference by, rather than requiring positive remedial measures of, the defendant.

3) Redlining: The practice of using certain, protected neighborhood characteristics as a basis for declining to lend to a borrower who wishes to purchase a home in that neighborhood. Can be very difficult to prove as companies are allowed to make smart business decisions in declining loans. Deference is typically given to the lender.

Reverse Redlining: The practice of approving loan applications for homebuyers in a protected class in a predatory manner. This practice is attributed as a major cause of the recent housing market collapse.

What Should Students Do If They Experience Harassment at School?

Remember, harassment is not the student's fault. Every student has a right to an educational setting free of harassment. There are actions students can take to end the harassment.

- Tell the harasser in person or in writing that the behavior is not welcome. Ask them to stop. Be specific about actions or words that make the student uncomfortable.

- Tell someone else about the harassment, a trusted adult or friend.

- Keepa written record of the incidents of harassment, including notes of witnesses who might have observed the incident.

- If the harassment does not stop, report it to school administration. A parent or friend can accompany the student if support is desired.

- If the school does not take prompt action to stop and resolvethe complaint, file a complaint with an external agency like the Iowa Civil Rights Commission or the Iowa Department of Education.

For additional information on harassment or other issues regarding discrimination, you may also want to contact the Iowa Civil Rights Commission, the Iowa Department of Education, Iowa Pride Network, or the Iowa Safe Schools Taskforce.

What Do Schools Need to Do About Harassment?

An important part of a school's program is to take steps to prevent harassment before it occurs. An institution needs to raise the issue and confront harassment before it becomes a problem.

- Acknowledge the problem; don't deny that it could happen in your school.

- Provide training to administrators, staff, and students so that they understand and recognize prohibited behavior and how to report it.

- Administrators, teachers and adult staff should set a good example of professional behavior.

- Under Title IX, schools should have a policy prohibiting sexual harassment. Administrators, teachers and students must be informed of the policy.
- Under Title IX, schools must establish a grievance procedure that is adequate and suitable for dealing with sexual harassment complaints.

Once a harassment complaint has been filed, the school administration needs to take prompt remedial action.

- When a harassment complaint is filed, take it seriously. Assure the person that a prompt and confidential investigation will take place.

- Designate and train persons to investigate complaints. Sensitivity to the problem, sound professional judgment, and knowledge of legal standards of investigation are important.

- If the investigation shows that the harassment did happen, take prompt disciplinary action against the harasser.

What Activities Constitute Harassment?

Harassment, which is not welcomed by the recipient, falls into into four types of behavior:

1. Physical: touching in a sexual manner, pinching, rubbing up against, gestures, assault.

2. Verbal: jokes of a racial, ethnic, or sexual nature; comments or questions about a person's body, dress, or personal life, using demeaning or inappropriate terms; using crude and offensive language of a sexual nature, name-calling or racial or ethnic slurs; demeaning comments about age, disability, or sexual orientation.

3. Visual: cartoons, drawings, or caricatures of a racial, ethnic, or sexual nature; pin-up pictures or calendars; displaying sexual objects in offices or rental units. Electronic messages or e-mail are frequently used for inappropriate personal messages, or to distribute jokes and cartoons that are offensive. Even after these messages are deleted on the computer, they can be retrieved to use as evidence of harassment.

4. Hazing: teasing, practical jokes of a sexual, racial or ethnic nature, ostracizing, starting or spreading rumorabout a person's personal life or sexual activities.

What is the Emotional Impact on Students Who Experience Harassment?

Students who have been harassed have reported the following feelings and actions:

- Not wanting to attend school; staying home, or cutting class
- Not wanting to talk as much in class
- Finding it hard to pay attention
- Making a lower grade on a test or in a class
- Wanting to change schools or even drop out
- Dropping out of chosen classes or field of study
- Not being able to obtain customary letters of reference or recommendations from a teacher