NurseCare provides healthcare aides who work in the homes of its clients, who are generally elderly or disabled persons. Some of the clients are bedridden and require total personal care. NurseCarescreens applicants for employment by using a strength test-- applicants must be able to lift a dummy weighing 185 pounds. Of its applicants, women pass the test at a rate of 40% and men pass at a rate of 60%.

What theory of discrimination might female applicants consider? What would they first need to show? Is that all they need to show, or what subsequent steps would follow? Give examples of what a lawyer representing NurseCareor a lawyer representing the female applicants might argue.