On February 20, 2015 the US 4th Circuit Court of Appeals (covering MD, VA, WA, NC & SC) found in favor of Freeman who was defending against an EEOC lawsuit.  In the case of EEOC v. Freeman the court considered a class action lawsuit pursued by the EEOC challenging the employer’s use of certain background […]

The EEOC charge against employers for misusing credit reports and criminal conviction searches in making employment decisions is becoming more and more frequent. I thought these types of EEOC actions against employers in this area would have been the most frequent. Recently I learned that retaliation charges against employers are the most frequent. For the […]

Many firms are concerned about the backgrounds of individuals being considered for employment. And, that is rightly so. But, how many firms are concerned about the background of volunteers? It can be as important to investigate individuals being considered for volunteer activities with your organization. Volunteers typically interact with the more vulnerable members of our […]

LinkedIn Corp. was hit with a class action lawsuit alleging it violates the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) through its use of its “search for references” feature, which allows prospective employers to obtain information about job applicants. Enacted in 1970, the FCRA regulates the practices of consumer reporting agencies to ensure they protect the accuracy, […]

New Washington D.C. law governs timing of doing a criminal conviction investigation on an applicant. Most jurisdictions with “ban the box” legislation require that employers not ask about criminal convictions on their application. Rather, the criminal conviction can be asked at some point during the interview process. The Council of the District of Columbia, however, […]