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Title VII › Criminal Background Checks › Disparate Impact

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act is a United States federal law enacted in 1964 and aimed at preventing discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, and religion. Title VII... more +
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act is a United States federal law enacted in 1964 and aimed at preventing discrimination in the workplace on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, and religion. Title VII has been subsequently extended to discrimination on the basis of pregnancy and sexual stereotypes and to prohibit sexual harassment. Title VII applies to all employers with fifteen or more employees including private employers, state and local governments, and educational institutions.  less -
BCLP

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

BCLP on

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

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP

EEOC Takes A Hit In Criminal Background Case

Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP on

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

Littler

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

Littler on

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

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

Eighth Circuit Sheds Light on the Legality of Employer Disqualification Policies

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on

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

Littler

The EEOC Continues to Press Litigation Under Title VII Concerning Employer Criminal Records Checks

Littler on

In April 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued updated “Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of...more

Littler

EEOC's Race Discrimination Suit Against Janitorial Company Includes Background Check Allegations

Littler on

The filing of a new discrimination lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) answers the question whether, after five years of intensive scrutiny, employers can breathe a sigh of relief in terms of...more

Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A.

Will South Carolina Ban the Box?

Haynsworth Sinkler Boyd, P.A. on

In prior posts, we have noted that HR professionals should acknowledge the tension between making hiring decisions based on an applicant’s criminal history and avoiding Title VII liability, if refusing to hire certain...more

Littler

California Employers Are Subject to New Requirements When Using Criminal History Information

Littler on

In April 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its long-awaited “Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights...more

Littler

California Fair Employment & Housing Council Considers Proposed (and Recently Amended) Rules to Restrict Employer Use of Criminal...

Littler on

In April 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its long-awaited “Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights...more

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP

Fifth Circuit Says Texas May Challenge EEOC Criminal Background Check Guidance

Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP on

In 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued an Enforcement Guidance stating when employers’ use of criminal background checks to exclude applicants from jobs violates Title VII. The Guidance states the EEOC’s...more

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,...

No Texas Hold ‘Em: Fifth Circuit Allows Texas to Challenge the EEOC Enforcement Guidance

Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart,... on

A somewhat surprising decision in favor of the State of Texas was handed down from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on June 27, 2016, which held that (i) Texas had standing to challenge the Equal Employment Opportunity...more

Sherman & Howard L.L.C.

Texas Keeps Messin’ With EEOC

Sherman & Howard L.L.C. on

Yesterday the Fifth Circuit benchslapped the EEOC in a case involving the agency’s criminal history “guidance.” State of Texas v. EEOC, No. 14-10949 (5th Cir. June 27, 2016). We previously blogged about the State of Texas’...more

Seyfarth Shaw LLP

Don’t Mess With Texas: EEOC’s Criminal Background Check Guidance Subject To Challenge

Seyfarth Shaw LLP on

On June 27, 2016, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit handed a victory to the State of Texas in Texas v. EEOC , No. 14-10949 (5th Cir. June 27, 2016), by remanding back to the district court the case it dismissed...more

Morrison & Foerster LLP

Employment Law Commentary, March 2016

Morrison & Foerster LLP on

The California Fair Employment And Housing Council Issues Proposed Regulations To Limit Consideration Of Criminal History In Employment Decisions - Employers take great measures to avoid hiring dangerous employees—not...more

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP

Background Checks are Still Big Litigation Business—Just Ask BMW

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP on

Yet another reminder that everyone using criminal background checks in the hiring process needs to review their standards—BMW just entered a consent decree with the EEOC under which it will pay $1.6 million and offer to hire...more

Littler

EEOC Settles Background Check Litigation with BMW, But Also Faces Steep Attorneys’ Fees in Freeman Case

Littler on

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

Laner Muchin, Ltd.

Court Orders EEOC To Pay Employer Nearly $1 Million In Attorneys' Fees And Costs, Finds EEOC Pursued Case Long After It Was Clear...

Laner Muchin, Ltd. on

Employers often criticize the EEOC’s position on employers’ use of background checks in the application process as increasing exposure for disparate treatment claims from applicants and as being willfully blind to legitimate...more

Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

Using Criminal Convictions in the Hire Process: A Hobson's Choice for Employers?

Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP on

Is the government really telling employers that they are not allowed to disqualify an applicant because of past criminal activity? In a word, yes. That is increasingly becoming the case on the state level and has been the...more

Stoel Rives LLP

Oregon’s New “Ban the Box” Law Prohibits Criminal History Questions on Employment Applications

Stoel Rives LLP on

It’s been an active legislative session in Oregon this year regarding laws affecting the state’s employers. Hot on the heels of enacting laws relating to paid sick leave, noncompete agreements, and employee privacy on social...more

Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

EEOC Uses its Record Keeping Requirements to Police Use of Criminal Background Checks

Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP on

We don't think about personnel files – we just have them. Everything from employment applications to benefits enrollment forms to discipline and discharge documents goes into those files. But did you know that the EEOC...more

Proskauer - Law and the Workplace

Fourth Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment against EEOC in Background Check Suit

Proskauer - Law and the Workplace on

Last week, in Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) v. Freeman, No. 13-2365 (4th Cir. Feb. 20, 2105), the Fourth Circuit affirmed the award of summary judgment against the EEOC in its suit alleging that the...more

McAfee & Taft

EEOC amps up attack on background checks

McAfee & Taft on

On April 25, 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions Under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of...more

Orrick - Employment Law and Litigation

U.S. Census Bureau Down for the Count after Certification Ruling in Criminal Background Check Case

Orrick - Employment Law and Litigation on

Last Tuesday, a Magistrate Judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York granted partial class certification in a case where plaintiffs allege that the United States Census Bureau used arrest...more

BakerHostetler

Texas Files Suit to Strike Down EEOC Background Check Guidance

BakerHostetler on

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) usually forces employers who are subject to Title VII to play defense. The State of Texas, however, has upended that approach. On November 4, 2013, Texas filed a federal...more

Fisher Phillips

Labor Letter, October 2013: Strike Two – The EEOC's Failed Attempts To Limit Background Checks

Fisher Phillips on

On August 9, 2013, the EEOC suffered its second defeat of the year in litigation involving employer use of criminal and credit background checks for employment screening. A federal district court in Maryland held that the...more

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