618
Thomas, J., dissenting
ing that Title VII discrimination occurs when an employee is treated " 'in a manner which but for that person's sex would be different' ") (quoting Los Angeles Dept. of Water and Power v. Manhart, 435 U. S. 702, 711 (1978)). For this reason, we have described as "nonsensical" the comparison of the racial composition of different classes of job categories in determining whether there existed disparate impact discrimination with respect to a particular job category. Wards Cove Packing Co. v. Atonio, 490 U. S. 642, 651 (1989).3 Courts interpreting Title VII have held that a plaintiff cannot prove "discrimination" by demonstrating that one member of a particular protected group has been favored over another member of that same group. See, e. g., Bush v. Commonwealth Edison Co., 990 F. 2d 928, 931 (CA7 1993), cert. denied, 511 U. S. 1071 (1994) (explaining that under Title VII, a fired black employee "had to show that although he was not a good employee, equally bad employees were treated more leniently by [his employer] if they happened not to be black").
Our cases interpreting § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 87 Stat. 394, as amended, which prohibits "discrimi-nation" against certain individuals with disabilities, have applied this commonly understood meaning of discrimination. Section 504 provides:
"No otherwise qualified handicapped individual . . . shall, solely by reason of his handicap, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be sub-3 Following Wards Cove, Congress enacted the Civil Rights Act of 1991, Pub. L. 102-166, 105 Stat. 1071, as amended, which, inter alia, altered the burden of proof with respect to a disparate impact discrimination claim. See id., § 105 (codified at 42 U. S. C. § 2000e-2(k)). This change highlights the principle that a departure from the traditional understanding of discrimination requires congressional action. Cf. Field v. Mans, 516 U. S. 59, 69-70 (1995) (Congress legislates against the background rule of the common law and traditional notions of lawful conduct).
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