FTC to Drop Disparate Impact Claim Against Asbury Automotive
The Federal Trade Commission will no longer pursue a claim of discriminatory pricing against three Dallas-Fort Worth-area dealerships owned by Asbury Automotive Group Inc. following a White House order that challenges the legal theory of disparate impact, according to Automotive News’s John Huetter.
Executive Order No. 14281 was issued by President Donald Trump on April 23. It states, in part, that the theory “holds that a near insurmountable presumption of unlawful discrimination exists where there are any differences in outcomes in certain circumstances among different races, sexes, or similar groups, even if there is no facially discriminatory policy or practice or discriminatory intent involved, and even if everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed.”
Disparate impact relies on statistical analysis, rather than proven intent, to demonstrate racial bias. The FTC’s case against Asbury, which also includes charges of systematic payment packing, cited higher prices paid by minority members at David McDavid Ford of Fort Worth and the David McDavid Honda dealerships in Frisco and Irving.
“The FTC’s allegation claimed David McDavid Ford charged Latinos more than whites for the same ‘add-ons,’ such as service contracts or chemical coatings, and the two other dealerships charged both Blacks and Latinos more than whites for the same products,” Huetter writes.
