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Date: November 22, 2024 Fri
Time: 12:10 pm
Time: 12:10 pm
Results for equal employment opportunity commission
1 results foundAuthor: Hartstein, Barry A. Title: Update on Criminal Background Checks: Impact of EEOC v. Freeman and Ongoing Challenges in a Continuously Changing Legal Environment Summary: The latest chapter in the ongoing saga of employment-related criminal background checks in the United States has been written, and one of the authors had some particularly strong words for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. On February 20, 2015, in Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Freeman, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of the employer in a case involving a challenge to the employer's use of criminal background and credit history checks in the hiring process. The EEOC had alleged that the criminal checks had a disparate impact on African American and male applicants, and that the credit checks had a disparate impact on African American job applicants. In a unanimous decision by a three judge panel, the Fourth Circuit affirmed the lower court's decision, which stemmed from the exclusion of the EEOC's expert reports, noting the "district court found a 'mind-boggling' number of errors and unexplained discrepancies." A separate concurring opinion was written to address what one judge referred to as "disappointing litigation conduct" by the EEOC, including continued reliance on an expert whose testimony was "fatally flawed in multiple respects," who previously had been used by the EEOC despite a "record of slipshod work, faulty analysis, and statistical sleight of hand." The concurring opinion further cautioned: "The EEOC must be constantly vigilant that it does not abuse the power conferred upon it by Congress, as its 'significant resources, authority, and discretion' will affect all 'those outside parties they investigate or sue' - The Commission's conduct in this case suggests that its exercise of vigilance has been lacking. It would serve the agency well in the future to reconsider how it might better discharge the responsibilities delegated to it or face the consequences for failing to do so." While the Fourth Circuit's decision in EEOC v. Freeman offers some comfort to employers, the bottom line is that this is a constantly evolving area of the law, and an employer's reliance on criminal history records in the hiring or employment process continues to present significant risk, especially for employers with high attrition for hourly workers. This is aptly illustrated by two additional large-scale lawsuits filed by the EEOC on June 11, 2013, which are being vigorously litigated and most likely will continue in litigation throughout 2015. Aside from Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) issues, employers also continue to face additional legal hurdles based on various legislative developments at the state and even the local level (e.g., Seattle, Washington, and San Francisco, California), such as "ban the box" restrictions and related limits on the use of criminal history in hiring and employment decisions. Employers also have been battling against a massive surge in class action litigation under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) based on gathering criminal history through third-party consumer reporting agencies when conducting background checks on applicants and/or employees. This Insight provides important takeaways for employers regarding this evolving area of the law, and to put those takeaways in context, highlights key portions of the EEOC's Criminal History Guidance; reviews in detail the Freeman case and lessons learned based on EEOC systemic charges and litigation that challenge an employer's use of criminal history in the employment process; summarizes the EEOC's additional pending litigation on the topic; and reviews another key federal appellate court decision discussing criminal history. Details: San Francisco, CA: Littler Mendelson, 2015. 10p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 12, 2019 at: https://www.littler.com/update-criminal-background-checks-impact-eeoc-v-freeman-and-ongoing-challenges-continuously-changing Year: 2015 Country: United States URL: https://www.littler.com/files/press/pdf/2015_2_Insight_Update_Criminal_Background_Checks_Impact_EEOC_v_Freeman.pdf Shelf Number: 154088 Keywords: Ban the BoxCredit History ChecksCriminal Background ChecksCriminal History RecordsEmployersEmployment Background ChecksEqual Employment OpportunityEqual Employment Opportunity CommissionFair Credit Reporting ActFreeman |