The Risks in Background Checks
Current Trends in FCRA Litigation - The Consumer Finance Podcast
AGG Talks: Background Screening - Ban the Box and Fair Chance Hiring Laws: The Year in Review
AGG Talks: Background Screening - Redaction of Identifiers by the Courts Update, Breaking News from California
AGG Talks: Background Screening - Redaction of Identifiers by the Courts in Michigan and California Pose Challenges for Background Checks
Smart hiring often includes a post-offer criminal background check on the job candidate to help employers make informed decisions. This practice can reveal potential employment risks like theft, workplace violence, or...more
Employers commonly conduct background checks on prospective employees in various areas that they may think relevant when deciding whether to hire an individual for a job. Yet, federal, state, and local laws are increasingly...more
An overwhelming majority of states have adopted what is widely known as “ban-the-box” laws or policies that generally prohibit employers from inquiring about an applicant’s criminal background until later in the hiring...more
Debt Collector Fired Christian Employee After He Refused to Be Fingerprinted Due to His Religious Beliefs, Federal Agency Charges - MINNEAPOLIS -- AscensionPoint Recovery Services, LLC (APRS), a Minnesota-based estate and...more
Federal Contractor Subjected Women to Sexual Harassment and Fired One Who Complained, Federal Agency Charged - BALTIMORE – MVM, Inc., an Ashburn, Va.-based diversified security services firm, will pay $200,000 in monetary...more
Class action litigation brought under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is on the rise—particularly in California—after the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued a 2017 decision applying a hypertechnical...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: Stepping into a new year always gives one a chance to reflect on the lessons and trends of the prior year. In that spirit, we are pleased to present our annual selections for the five most intriguing...more
One of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s top priorities has been to stop employers from instituting blanket bans on hiring individuals with criminal records. The EEOC’s focus stems from national data suggesting...more
In the first-of-its-kind ruling last week, the Fifth Circuit held that the EEOC’s investigators and lawyers cannot rely on its “Enforcement Guidance on Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions...more
No legal authority to issue its Enforcement Guidance! In February 2018, I wrote about a federal court decision that enjoined (prohibited) the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission from taking any action to enforce its 2012...more
It’s hard to keep up with the news these days. It sometimes feels like you can’t step away from your phone, computer, or TV for more than an hour or so without a barrage of new information hitting the headlines—and you’re...more
Employers that use criminal record-screening policies must continue to be vigilant about compliance with all applicable laws and should know that the EEOC’s scrutiny of such policies, while perhaps scaled back, has not ended....more
It is estimated that the "American criminal justice system holds almost 2.3 million people in 1,719 state prisons, 102 federal prisons, 1,852 juvenile correctional facilities, 3,163 local jails, and 80 Indian Country jails as...more
Recent action by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has raised the specter of whether transgender persons are considered protected under the federal discrimination laws. The EEOC has sued a company in Denver that...more
Effective July 1, 2017, the regulations under the Fair Employment and Housing Act will identify new circumstances in which employers may face liability for considering criminal history in making employment decisions such as...more
In the next week, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is expected to sign the Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring (Initiative), which will prohibit most private sector employers from inquiring into a job applicant’s criminal...more
Earlier this week, news broke that NASCAR is being sued for alleged racial discrimination. NASCAR insists the case has no merit, but only time will tell the outcome. When the rubber meets the road, will your business be ready...more
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Chair Jenny R. Yang has issued a report on the EEOC’s Systemic Discrimination efforts over the last 10 years. The Report contains insights on the type of employer vulnerabilities the...more
In the wake of recent terrorist attacks in Paris and San Bernardino, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has warned employers to be proactive and take measures against discrimination aimed at those who are, or...more
Tennessee has become one of the latest states to “ban the box,” joining a growing list of jurisdictions barring employers from asking about job applicants’ criminal histories. As of April 18, 2016, a total of 23 states and...more
Failure to WARN Alleged in Complaint Against Yahoo - Why it matters - In a novel lawsuit, a former employee of Yahoo claims that the company manipulated its performance-review rating system in order to dodge both...more
Last week the California Fair Employment and Housing Council of the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (or, in short, the Council) announced its proposed amendment to the California Code of Regulations, aiming to...more
Legislative Update - Governor Brown recently signed into state law the following employment law bills (among others): SB 358—Referred to as the California Fair Pay Act, this law is directed at closing the pay...more
FTC Offers Employers Lesson in FCRA Compliance—And Limited Exceptions - Why it matters: A California employer recently received a lesson in Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) compliance from the Federal Trade...more
After several high-profile setbacks in disparate impact discrimination lawsuits challenging criminal record screening policies, the EEOC has entered into a settlement (consent decree) in one of its few remaining cases, a...more