News & Analysis as of September 21, 2024

Title VII

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Hiring & Firing refers to the process of recruiting, interviewing and offering employment and the process of evaluating performance and dismissing employees. Hiring & Firing is a highly regulated area and can create tremendous liability for employers who fail to properly adhere to acceptable employment practices. Some of the potential pitfalls in this area stem from discriminatory hiring practices, improper performance evaluations, and retaliatory firings. less -

Employer in deep Sheetz over criminal history check

McAfee & Taft on 5/6/2024

A large convenience store chain recently learned about the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s intention to challenge how employers use arrest and conviction records to make hiring decisions....more

Pre-Employment Background Checks: Considerations for Employers When Screening Prospective Employees

Venable LLP on 7/28/2023

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

Ban the Box Laws: What’s the Box and Why is it Banned?

Dorsey & Whitney LLP on 7/22/2022

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

Louisiana ‘Fair Chance’ Law Restricts Employer Discretion in Considering Candidates’ Criminal History

Morgan Lewis on 7/29/2021

Louisiana has joined the growing number of states that have enacted “fair chance” laws that, in general, require employers to evaluate the relationship between a candidate’s criminal history and the duties and...more

Strength in Numbers? Not Necessarily, Says Second Circuit

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 1/19/2021

Seyfarth Synopsis: A recent Second Circuit decision casts doubt on the usefulness of national statistics to support a claim of hiring disparities at the pleading stage of litigation. Unless the national population mirrors the...more

Federal Contractors To Be Limited On Criminal Background Checks

Akerman LLP - HR Defense on 1/31/2020

Private employers with federal contracts will soon be prohibited from requesting criminal history information from candidates at the onset of the hiring process; instead, they will have to wait until after an offer is made....more

The Top Five Most Intriguing Developments In EEOC-Initiated Litigation In 2019 (And a Preview of Our Annual EEOC Litigation...

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 1/3/2020

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

EEOC’s background check guidelines shot down

McAfee & Taft on 12/16/2019

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

Remember to Think Outside the Box: Ban-the-Box Laws Are Not the Only Restrictions on Consideration of an Applicant’s Criminal...

BCLP on 12/6/2019

A growing chorus of cities, counties, and states have passed “ban-the-box” laws that restrict when and how employers can consider an applicant’s or employee’s criminal history. Currently, thirteen states (California,...more

Dollar General Reaches Settlement with the EEOC in Years-Long Background Check Bias Suit

Littler on 11/4/2019

Employers should continue to exercise caution and care in drafting their criminal record screening policies. A recent settlement by Dollar General underscores this point, even though it comes on the heels of the Fifth...more

EEOC Can’t Mess With Texas, Fifth Circuit Says

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP on 9/3/2019

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit sided with Texas in its challenge to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) guidance for employers on the use of criminal records in hiring. ...more

Fifth Circuit Takes a Bite Out of EEOC’s Criminal Background Guidance

Orrick - Employment Law and Litigation on 8/15/2019

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

Fifth Circuit Finds EEOC Exceeded its Authority in Issuing Enforcement Guidance on Arrest and Conviction Records

FordHarrison on 8/13/2019

On Tuesday, August 6, 2019, the United States Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit held that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (“EEOC”) Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in...more

Fifth Circuit Rules That The EEOC Can’t Mess With Texas Over Criminal Background Checks

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on 8/12/2019

Seyfarth Synopsis: In the latest battle of the multi-year showdown between the State of Texas and the EEOC – whereby Texas asserted that the EEOC’s 2012 “Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction...more

Fifth Circuit Finds EEOC Did Not Have Authority to Issue 2012 Criminal History Guidance

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 8/9/2019

On August 6, 2019, in State of Texas v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) overstepped its limited rulemaking...more

EEOC Takes A Hit In Criminal Background Case

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on 8/9/2019

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

Federal Appeals Court Strikes Down EEOC’s Criminal Background Guidance In Texas - 3 Things For Employers To Know

Fisher Phillips on 8/7/2019

A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that the 2012 guidance document from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) that cautioned employers not to apply blanket bans against hiring those with criminal records...more

Fifth Circuit Deals a Blow to EEOC’s Criminal Record Guidance

Littler on 8/7/2019

On August 6, 2019, in Texas v. EEOC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit dealt the EEOC a significant setback, largely affirming the district court’s decision that the EEOC violated the federal Administrative...more

EEOC Continues to Scrutinize Criminal Record Screening Policies

Littler on 10/2/2018

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

Furniture Retailer Rooms to Go Adopts Revised Criminal Background Check Procedures In Cooperation With The EEOC

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission... on 9/24/2018

Tampa, Fla. -- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and Rooms To Go, a larger furniture retailer, have reached a voluntary conciliation agreement to resolve allegations of race discrimination raised by an...more

Eighth Circuit Sheds Light on the Legality of Employer Disqualification Policies

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on 9/4/2018

Courts have ruled that sweeping and overbroad employer-initiated disqualification policies must be struck absent business justification. But where is the line on what constitutes an overbroad and impermissible policy when...more

Justice System to Workforce: The Finer Points of Title VII's Implications on Criminal Background Checks

Baker Donelson on 7/23/2018

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

Crime and Punishment: Using Criminal Histories, Arrest Records, and Background Checks in Employment

Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC on 7/13/2018

Every employer wants to promote and sustain a safe workplace. One way in which employers try to accomplish this goal is to conduct background checks on its applicants or new hires to assess whether they might pose a risk to...more

Blindfolding Employers: New Laws in California Further Restrict Job Applicant Information

Farella Braun + Martel LLP on 5/4/2018

The state of California has long led the nation in regulating the employment relationship. From continuously expanding the classes of employees protected under its anti-discrimination laws, to passing one of the nation’s most...more

Criminal Record Screening Policies Continue to Raise Important Compliance Issues

Littler on 4/9/2018

Employers that use criminal record screening policies must continue to be vigilant about compliance with all applicable laws. A recent settlement by one of the nation’s leading retailers, Target, reinforces this point. The...more

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