In a state court in Manhattan, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) sued a class of companies it said were breaking city and state laws that bar businesses from refusing to consider former convicts for jobs. Since New York’s…
Posts by Category: Background Check Laws
Lawsuit Claims Background Check Error Ruined Reputation
A Minnesota mother blames a background check mistake for ruining her reputation. The company that did Wosmek’s background check for the school district that she volunteered for said she’d committed criminal vehicular homicide. She says the company not only…
Virginia Limits Employer Access to Social Media Accounts of Employees and Applicants
Effective July 1, 2015, employers in Virginia will be prohibited from requiring, requesting, or causing a current or prospective employee to disclose the username and password to the individual’s social media account. The new law also prohibits employers from…
New Illinois Laws in 2015: What Employers Should Know
Joining the current “Ban the Box” trend, the Job Opportunities for Qualified Applicants Act prohibits Illinois employers from asking job applicants about their criminal history until after the employer determines that the individual is qualified for the…
Food Lion Job Applicants Reach $3M Background Check Class Action Settlement
A group of job applicants say they support the almost $3 million class action settlement reached with Food Lion, LLC and its parent company Delhaize America, LLC over allegedly illegal background check procedures by the east coast grocery store chain. Lead plaintiff…
Lawsuits Grow Under “Old” Pennsylvania Background Check Law
A growing number of states and localities have enacted laws that restrict employers from considering certain types of criminal records in hiring and other personnel decisions. Though many of these laws are more recent, Pennsylvania’s Criminal History Record…
Udall Co-Sponsors Bill To Provide Background Checks To Organizations That Serve Children
U.S. Senator Tom Udallannounced that he is cosponsoring the Child Protection Improvements and Electronic Life and Safety Security Systems Act , that would enable children’s groups, summer camps, and other youth-serving non-profit associations to gain access to…
Background Check Lawsuits: If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another
On July 1, a federal court in New York certified a class of unsuccessful Hispanic and African-American applicants alleging the U.S. Census Bureau discriminated against them by requiring applicants to provide the Bureau with detailed information about their prior…
Reding Says That US Safe Harbor Changes Nearly Agreed
Viviane Reding, EU Vice President and Commissioner for Justice, said on 6 June: “I think that 95% of what could be agreed – has been. There are the last sticking 5%, which are not yet agreed, which concern the judicial redress. For example, when Americans…
House GOP Members Criticize the EEOC on Background Checks, Enforcement Tactics
Republicans on a House Education and the Workforce subcommittee have criticized the EEOC for discouraging employers from conducting necessary criminal background checks on job applicants and for pursuing meritless discrimination suits. Rep. Tim Walberg said the…



