Discrimination 

BMW settles federal race discrimination lawsuit

J.R. Randall , , , , ,

BMWIn order to resolve a federal race discrimination case, BMW has agreed to pay $1.6 million and offer jobs African American applicants. BMW allegedly used criminal background check guidelines to screen applicants at a BMW plant in South Carolina, having a disparate impact on African American job candidates.

The EEOC complaint states that the criminal conviction background check policy was an unlawful employment practice, a Title VII Civil Rights Act violation. The EEOC sought back pay for 69 applicants, six of whom filed charges and 63 class members.

When BMW changed logistics contractors at a South Carolina plant in 2008, it required the contractor run a criminal background check on all current employees. Approximately 100 employees did not pass the screening.  The EEOC alleged that 80 percent of incumbent workers who were disqualified from employment from the criminal conviction background checks were African American.

BMW denies the allegations and says its highly diverse workforce is evidence that it doesn’t discriminate by race. As part of the settlement BMW will offer employment to the discharged workers and almost 100 applicants who the contractor refused to hire based on previous conviction records.

P. David Lopez, EEOC general counsel, explained that while it “has been clear that while a company may choose to use criminal history as a screening device in employment, Title VII requires that when a criminal background screen results in the disproportionate exclusion of African Americans from job opportunities, the employer must evaluate whether the policy is job related and consistent with a business necessity.”

In the 1980s the EEOC provided its first written policy to guide employers on the use of arrest and conviction records. This case was one of the first cases involving the use of arrest and conviction records to be filed by the EEOC.

Relevant reading:

EEOC‘s Update on criminal background checks: Impact of EEOC v. Freeman and ongoing challenges in a continuously changing legal environment.

The human side of employment discrimination by economist Dwight Steward, Ph.D.

Illegal background checks – guidelines for employers, by attorney Ken LaMance.

Protecting yourself when using criminal background checks from HIRE Network

J.R. Randall

J.R. Randall is an economist who resides in the Bay Area. He focuses his interest on range of economic topics. He has interest in deep sea fishing and art.