• Adverse impact. Adverse impact, also called unintentional discrimination, occurs when the performance management system has an unintentional impact on a protected class. This can happen when women receive consistently lower performance ratings than men. For example, adverse impact can take place for the position of firefighter if a performance dimension deals with physical strength. If members of a protected class receive consistently lower performance ratings, then the employer must be able to demonstrate that the performance dimension measured is an important part of the job. In this case, the fire department should demonstrate that physical strength is a key KSA for the job of firefighter and, based on the argument of business necessity, an appropriate measure should be included as part of the performance evaluation and every employee should be evaluated in the same fashion. As a precautionary measure, data should be gathered on an ongoing basis regarding performance scores obtained by members of various groups, broken down by the categories indicated by the law (e.g., sex, ethnicity). A periodic review of these data can help detect the presence of adverse impact, and the organization can take corrective action if necessary.