If the sales floor at your Target store looks a bit monochromatic, perhaps assign blame to the company’s reliance on criminal background checks to screen job applicants.
Target Inc.’s use of criminal background checks to screen job applicants has come back to bite it. Black and Hispanic applicants who were screened out under this program will benefit from a nearly $4 million settlement of race claims related to this screening method.
The plaintiffs alleged that Target, which has performed background checks for jobs in the U.S. stores since 2001, “imported the racial and ethnic disparities” in the U.S. criminal justice system into its hiring, in part by disqualifying job applicants for convictions unrelated to the positions they sought.
Eligible blacks and Hispanics who were wrongly denied hourly and entry-level jobs since May 2006 will receive $1.2 million or “priority hiring.” Per the settlement, experts will review Target’s guidelines for using criminal histories in hiring and help the retailer implement changes.
The settlement filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan on Thursday requires a judge’s approval before it can go into effect.
Here’s guidance from the EEOC on Background Checks: What Job Applicants and Employees Should Know.
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