Census Worker Class Action Lawsuit
News & Announcements
Census Bureau’s $15M Hiring Bias Settlement OK’d
The U.S. Census Bureau will pay $15 million to a class of “hundreds of thousands” of black and Latino job seekers who claim they were shut out of jobs for the 2010 census because of a flawed criminal history screening process, under a settlement given final approval by a federal judge in New York ( Gonzalez v. Pritzker , S.D.N.Y., No. 1:10-cv-03105, settlement approved 9/20/16 ). The agreement brings renewed attention to an issue targeted by federal civil rights enforcement authorities and the Obama administration—the difficulty job applicants with criminal records can have finding work. The...
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Outten & Golden LLP: Court Approves Landmark Settlement in Census Bureau Discrimination Class Action
A New York federal court approved the settlement of a landmark class action in which African American and Latino job applicants alleged illegal background check policies and practices at the U.S. Census Bureau denied them access to more than a million temporary jobs for the 2010 decennial census, Outten & Golden LLP and co-counsel said today. Adam Klein , the lead attorney for the plaintiffs and the head of the class action practice group at Outten & Golden LLP, said, “This historic settlement requires the Census Bureau to replace its arbitrary and racially discriminatory use of...
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Plaintiffs Attorney Says SEPTA Hiring Decision Affects Civil and Privacy Rights, Goes Against State Edicts
The use of background checks in making hiring decisions is facing increased scrutiny, according to the lead plaintiffs’ attorney in Long v. the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA). The plaintiffs in the Long case alleged that they were conditionally offered positions as SEPTA bus operators, subject to completion of a background check. As part of that process, the plaintiffs disclosed previous felony convictions for drug offenses. As a result, the plaintiffs claim, SEPTA withdrew the job offers. In the class action lawsuit filed in April in the U.S. District Court for...
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Fair Credit Reporting Act lawsuit against SEPTA one of rising number, attorney says
The recent federal class action lawsuit filed against Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and other laws is one of many making those claims, an attorney knowledgeable of the FCRA said during a recent interview. "More and more class actions are popping up every day in this arena," Kathryn M. Rattigan, an associate with Robinson & Cole in Providence, R.I., said during a Pennsylvania Record email interview. "Private businesses and government alike should be aware of the FCRA’s requirements and stay up to speed on their...
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U.S. to Curb Queries on Criminal Histories of Government Job Seekers
WASHINGTON — The White House on Friday will move to bar federal agencies from asking applicants for tens of thousands of government jobs about their criminal histories until the very end of the process. While checks of criminal histories have become routine in the public and private sectors, a regulation being proposed by the Obama administration would remove a barrier that discourages many freed prisoners from applying for jobs. The rule would prevent supervisors interviewing applicants for about half of all federal positions from asking about a job seeker’s criminal or credit history until...
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