News and Announcements

Charge: Criminal History Policy Has Disparate Impact on African-Americans A former temporary employee at a DHL warehouse near Chicago alleges that the company ignores the criminal histories of less expensive temporary workers but runs criminal history checks on prospective permanent hires in violation of federal and state law, his lawyers at Outten & Golden LLP said today. Walter Pickett filed a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) office in Chicago today, his lawyers said. He is represented by attorneys Ossai Miazad and Christopher McNerney of Outten &...

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...

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...

A New York state court ruled that information management giants NTT Data, Inc. and Philips Electronics North America Corp. will remain in a class action lawsuit alleging that major job search websites enable employers to illegally post job listings in New York City with blanket bans on applicants with felony convictions, Outten & Golden LLP and co-counsel said today. Filed in June 2015, the class action brought by 14 New York metropolitan area branches of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Inc. (NAACP) targets employers that post allegedly illegal job listings...