Archives: Background Checks

New NYC Law Requires Two-Step Background Checks and Expands List of Pre-Adverse Action Factors

By Priya Amin and Todd Lebowitz on July 26, 2021 Posted in Background Checks

The New York City Fair Chance Act (FCA) amendments expand protections for individuals with a criminal record and impose new obligations on employers that conduct background checks. The changes take effect July 29, 2021. The amendments require most background checks to be conducted in two steps,[1] provide “complete protection” for non-convictions and add specific FCA … Continue Reading

Illinois Enacts New Background Check Requirements

By Bonnie Keane DelGobbo and Todd Lebowitz on March 24, 2021 Posted in Background Checks

Background check compliance has been a technical minefield for years. Federal, state and local requirements differ, meaning that multistate employers have a lot to keep track of. Illinois just planted a new landmine. Amendments to the Illinois Human Rights Act impose new requirements on employers conducting background checks in Illinois. Governor Pritzker signed the bill … Continue Reading

High Times for Employees in Nevada: New Restrictions on Preemployment Drug-Screening of Applicants Who Test Positive for Marijuana

By Jacob A. Bruner on June 18, 2019 Posted in Background Checks

Beginning in 2020, Nevada employers can no longer refuse to hire a job applicant for failing a preemployment marijuana screening test. The law, known as “AB132,” became effective on June 5 and is the first of its kind among the states. Although the law is limited in scope to drug screenings involving the presence of … Continue Reading

Los Angeles Joins Ban the Box Movement

By Todd Lebowitz and Jeffrey Bils on December 27, 2016 Posted in Background Checks, California

Los Angeles has become the latest city to ban private employers from asking job applicants about their criminal histories before offering a job. With its Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring, the city joins San Francisco, New York, Chicago, and about two dozen other cities, counties and states in enacting Ban the Box measures to promote … Continue Reading

Oregon Limits Criminal Background Inquiries by Employers

By Todd Lebowitz on January 4, 2016 Posted in Background Checks

Oregon became the seventh state to ban the box for private employers, prohibiting any questions about criminal background on employment applications and at any time before an initial interview takes place. Oregon’s law took effect January 1, 2016. Ban-the-box laws have become increasingly prevalent as a way to help provide ex-offenders an opportunity to be … Continue Reading

Philadelphia Shows Brotherly Love for Ex-Felons Seeking Jobs

By Todd Lebowitz on December 21, 2015 Posted in Background Checks

Quick quiz: Which of the following statements by an employer is illegal in Philadelphia? (A) I would never hire a vegetarian. (B) No ugly people will be hired here. (C) I hate dyed hair. If the carpet doesn’t match the drapes, no job for you. (D) Our policy is never to hire murderers, rapists, or … Continue Reading

“Lies, D*mned Lies, and Statistics”: Fourth Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment Against EEOC on Background Check Lawsuit Based Upon Faulty Statistical Analysis

By Pat Muldowney on February 25, 2015 Posted in Background Checks

On February 20, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a Maryland federal district court’s entry of summary judgment against the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) with respect to its lawsuit alleging that an employer’s background check program violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. EEOC v. … Continue Reading

Washington, D.C. Joins the Ban-the-Box Movement for Private Employers

By Todd Lebowitz on August 28, 2014 Posted in Background Checks

The District of Columbia has passed one of the most stringent ban-the-box laws in the nation. The D.C. law includes the typical prohibition on asking questions about criminal background during the application process, but it also adds a requirement, similar to New York State, that specific factors be considered before a conditional offer of employment … Continue Reading

New Jersey Becomes the Sixth State to Ban the Box for Private Employers

By Todd Lebowitz on August 12, 2014 Posted in Background Checks

Criminal background questions on employment applications will no longer be permitted in New Jersey, effective March 1, 2015. New Jersey joins Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Rhode Island to become the sixth state to ban the box for private employers. As we blogged here, the Illinois law takes effect January 1, 2015. Several cities have … Continue Reading

Illinois Joins Ban-The-Box States; New Jersey May Be Next

By Todd Lebowitz and Melissa Siebert on July 23, 2014 Posted in Background Checks

Illinois Criminal background questions on employment applications will no longer be permitted in Illinois, effective January 1, 2015. On July 19, Governor Quinn signed the Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act, making Illinois the fifth state to prohibit private employers from asking criminal history questions at the initial application stage. Illinois joins Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, … Continue Reading

Background Check Lawsuits: If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another

By Pat Muldowney on July 15, 2014 Posted in Background Checks, Retail

As we previously have written, employer use of criminal records and background checks with respect to applicants and employees has been the subject of challenge on the grounds that such checks tend to discriminate against African-American, Hispanic, and male applicants. Indeed, on July 1, a federal court in New York certified a class of unsuccessful … Continue Reading

Sixth Circuit Delivers Knockout to EEOC in Another Background Check Case

By Todd Lebowitz on April 15, 2014 Posted in Background Checks, EEOC

The EEOC suffered a major setback on April 9th when the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed summary judgment in the highly watched background check case of EEOC v. Kaplan Higher Education Corporation, et al. The Sixth Circuit chastised the EEOC for using a flawed methodology to try to prove that using credit checks as … Continue Reading

Background Check Forms Face Increased Scrutiny in Federal Court

By Todd Lebowitz on February 12, 2014 Posted in Background Checks

Businesses should check their background check consent forms and their pre-adverse action waiting periods, after a recent federal court decision out of Pennsylvania. In Reardon v. Closetmaid Corporation, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of a class of more than 1,800 job applicants. The Court ruled that the employer’s consent and disclosure form … Continue Reading

Texas Files Suit to Strike Down EEOC Background Check Guidance

By Amy J. Traub, Nathan A. Schacht and Todd Lebowitz on November 12, 2013 Posted in Background Checks, Discrimination, EEOC

Don’t mess with Texas. 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 lawsuit that seeks to strike down the EEOC’s April 2012 Enforcement Guidance limiting employers’ use … Continue Reading

Criminal Background Checks: The Saga Continues

By Melissa Siebert on October 16, 2013 Posted in Background Checks, EEOC

In the past few weeks there have several noteworthy decisions regarding employers’ use of criminal background information to make hiring decisions. In one case, EEOC v. Peoplemark (6th Cir., Oct. 7, 2013), the Sixth Circuit handed the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) a significant bill for attorneys’ and expert fees exceeding $750,000, when the court found … Continue Reading

Don’t Forget About the Fair Credit Reporting Act: Background Check Class Action Suit Filed Against Trucking Company

By Amy J. Traub and Laura Scully on August 27, 2013 Posted in Background Checks

As we have noted in a number of prior posts here, here, and here, background checks can be a helpful tool for management, especially during the hiring process, but they can also be a ripe source for potential liability on a number of fronts. While there has been a lot of attention to suits recently … Continue Reading

Court Slams EEOC on Background Check Lawsuit

By Pat Muldowney on August 18, 2013 Posted in Background Checks, Discrimination, EEOC, Retail

Last week, a district court in Maryland granted summary judgment in favor of Freeman, Inc. (“Freeman”), a service provider for corporate events, with respect to a nationwide pattern and practice lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”). EEOC v. Freeman, No. 09-CV-2573 (D. Md. Aug. 9, 2013). In its lawsuit, the EEOC … Continue Reading

State Attorney Generals Challenge EEOC Criminal Background Check Lawsuits

By Melissa Siebert on July 29, 2013 Posted in Background Checks, EEOC

As we reported in our July 15, 2013 blog post, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently filed class action lawsuits against Dollar General and BMW challenging those employers’ use of criminal background checks. Specifically, the EEOC alleged that Dollar General’s and BMW’s application of background check policies had a racially discriminatory impact on applicants … Continue Reading

EEOC Files Two Race-Based Class Action Lawsuits on Criminal Background Checks

By Melissa Siebert on July 15, 2013 Posted in Background Checks, Discrimination, EEOC, Retail

On June 11, 2013, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) filed separate class action lawsuits against two employers – Dollar General Stores and BMW – alleging that these employers engaged in racial discrimination by using criminal background checks to disqualify applicants from employment. The BMW case filed in South Carolina has a 69-person class, and is location specific. … Continue Reading