Unlawful Background Screening

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) recently obtained a settlement of over 1 million from an international car company for unlawful background screening. This is one of the first ‘race discrimination’ cases of this kind by the EEOC since it updated its guidance on the use of arrest and conviction records in 2012.

The car company’s criminal background screening policy disqualified from hire anyone with a criminal conviction for specified crime categories, including misdemeanors, no matter when the conviction occurred. According to the EEOC, 80% of these disqualified workers were African-American.

Employers need to ensure background screening policies are job-related and necessary for the company. Under federal law, a company may choose to use criminal history as a screening device in employment but Title VII requires that when a criminal background screen results in the disproportionate exclusion of a certain race of individuals from job opportunities, the employer must evaluate whether the policy is job related and consistent with a business necessity. The company had to pay a seven-figure settlement, change its criminal background screening guidelines, and offer job opportunities to the affected workers.