A new study finds that when employers are prohibited from looking into applicants’ financial history, African-Americans become more likely to be unemployed compared to other demographic groups. Which is odd, the story notes, considering that studies find little evidence that possessing a clean financial record has anything to do with being a good worker. Regardless, according to a 2012 survey, 47% of employers said they run credit checks on applicants. The study turns on its head the idea that such bans are actually helping to tamp down discrimination in the workplace. Since 2007, eleven states, as well as Chicago and New York City, have passed laws prohibiting employers from looking into the financial histories of job applicants. And as more states and cities consider enacting similar measures, we must seriously wonder if these bans actually doing more to aid discrimination than end it.

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