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9th April 2018, 06:09 AM
http://www.texaspolicenews.com/default.aspx?act=Newsletter.aspx&category=News+1-2&newsletterid=70318&menugroup=Home
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Target Corp has agreed to review its policies for screening job applicants and pay $3.74 million to settle a lawsuit claiming its use of criminal background checks kept thousands of blacks and Hispanics from obtaining employment.
The preliminary settlement filed on Thursday with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan requires a judge’s approval.
It resolves claims that Target, which has performed background checks for employment in U.S. stores since 2001, “imported the racial and ethnic disparities” in U.S. criminal justice system into its hiring, in part by disqualifying job applicants for convictions unrelated to the work they sought.
The plaintiffs included Carnella Times and Erving Smith, who are black and claimed they were denied stocker jobs after background checks uncovered past convictions, and The Fortune Society, which helps former prisoners reenter society.
That group last year filed a similar discrimination charge against Macy’s Inc with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The plaintiffs were represented by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (“LDF”), and the law firm Outten & Golden.
“Criminal background information can be a legitimate tool for screening job applicants,” but Target’s background checks were “harmful to many qualified applicants who deserved a fair shot at a good job,” LDF President Sherrilyn Ifill said in a statement.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Target Corp has agreed to review its policies for screening job applicants and pay $3.74 million to settle a lawsuit claiming its use of criminal background checks kept thousands of blacks and Hispanics from obtaining employment.
The preliminary settlement filed on Thursday with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan requires a judge’s approval.
It resolves claims that Target, which has performed background checks for employment in U.S. stores since 2001, “imported the racial and ethnic disparities” in U.S. criminal justice system into its hiring, in part by disqualifying job applicants for convictions unrelated to the work they sought.
The plaintiffs included Carnella Times and Erving Smith, who are black and claimed they were denied stocker jobs after background checks uncovered past convictions, and The Fortune Society, which helps former prisoners reenter society.
That group last year filed a similar discrimination charge against Macy’s Inc with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
The plaintiffs were represented by the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (“LDF”), and the law firm Outten & Golden.
“Criminal background information can be a legitimate tool for screening job applicants,” but Target’s background checks were “harmful to many qualified applicants who deserved a fair shot at a good job,” LDF President Sherrilyn Ifill said in a statement.