Blog Image
Profile Image Verifile
| Retail & PCI-DSS
April 5 2018

Target Reaches Settlement Over Asking Job Applicants About Criminal Records

CNN report how Target reached a $3.74 million settlement in a class-action suit Thursday that alleged the retail giant's hiring process unfairly discriminated against African Americans and Latinos.

The lawsuit, which was filed by the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and two individuals on behalf of a group of job applicants, said the retail giant has used hiring policies that "exclude applicants with arrest or irrelevant conviction records from obtaining employment opportunities" and the process has "a disparate impact on African Americans and Latinos."

The NAACP Legal Defense Fund alleged that Target asked broad and outdated questions about job applicants' criminal histories, even if the crimes were not related to the job they sought.  "Target's background check policy was out of step with best practices and harmful to many qualified applicants who deserved a fair shot at a good job," said Sherrilyn Ifill, the president of the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

"Criminal background information can be a legitimate tool for screening job applicants, but only when appropriately linked to relevant questions such as how long ago the offense occurred and whether it was a non-violent or misdemeanor offense," she added.