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...

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...

[Reproduced with permission from Daily Labor Report, 212 DLR A-1 (Nov. 3, 2015). Copyright 2015 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (800-372-1033) .] A private company that operates prisons, and a consumer background reporting firm are violating federal and state fair credit laws by not providing job applicants with timely notice of reports including criminal histories that are used to deny them employment, according to a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ( Keels v. GEO Grp. Inc. , E.D.N.Y., No. 15-6261, 10/30/15). The proposed class action...