.-') _ .-') _
( OO ) ) ( OO ) )
.-----. ,--./ ,--,' ,--./ ,--,'
' .--./ | \ | |\ | \ | |\
| |('-. | \| | )| \| | )
/_) |OO )| . |/ | . |/
|| |`-'| | |\ | | |\ |
(_' '--'\ | | \ | | | \ |
`-----' `--' `--' `--' `--'
lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Sheetz accused of racial discrimination in its hiring process
By Ramishah Maruf, CNN
Updated:
5:40 PM EDT, Thu April 18, 2024
Source: CNN
A federal agency accused a popular gas station chain of discriminating
against Black, Native American and multiracial applicants in its hiring
practices.
The Sheetz criminal screening process disproportionately screened out
applicants from those legally protected groups, the lawsuit announced
by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Thursday . The gas
station chain screens and rejects applicants who have criminal records,
the EEOC said.
Those employment practices violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act,
which prohibits discrimination in the workplace, the suit said.
Criminal records have been a barrier for certain workers to find jobs.
More than half of unemployed men in their 30s have a history of
criminal conviction or arrest that keeps them from fully participating
in the labor market, a . And minority groups who are incarcerated at
higher rates relative to Whites can be put at even more of a
disadvantage.
The lawsuit doesn’t claim Sheetz was actively motivated by race when
rejecting applicants. In a statement, Sheetz said it “does not
tolerate discrimination of any kind.”
“We take these allegations seriously. We have attempted to work
with the EEOC for nearly eight years to find common ground and resolve
this dispute. We will address the claims in Court when the time
comes,” Nick Ruffner, PR Manager for Sheetz, said in a statement.
The EEOC said the case is going to court after failing to reach a
pre-litigation settlement.
The alleged illegal hiring practices have taken place in Maryland since
at least 2015, the lawsuit said.
As part of the hiring process, applicants must answer questions about
their criminal justice history and go through a background check
through a third-party vendor. Those who fail the screening do not get
hired.
About 14.5% of Black applicants failed the screening, while less than
8% of White applicants failed, according to the lawsuit. Native
Americans and multiracial applicants failed at a rate of about 13%.
“Black job applicants comprise a disproportionately high number of
the total number of job applicants whom Defendants have refused to hire
because of criminal justice history information,” the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit added that according to published statistics, Black people
and Native Americans in the United States “are subject to arrest,
conviction, and incarceration at significantly higher rates relative to
White persons.”
The EEOC said there are other screening methods available that
wouldn’t discriminate.
“Even when such necessity is proven, the practice remains unlawful if
there is an alternative practice available that is comparably effective
in achieving the employer’s goals but causes less discriminatory
effect,” said EEOC Regional Attorney Debra M. Lawrence in a
statement.
The lawsuit seeks an order for Sheetz to end its current hiring
practice and create equal employment policies and programs. It also
seeks back pay for the affected applicants.
Sheetz has more than 600 stores in Pennsylvania, West Virginia,
Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and North Carolina. The East Coast convenience
chain is known for , such as gas for $1.776 on the Fourth of July.
DIR <- back to index