WHY I WILL NEVER OWN A BUSINESS AGAIN

The Chicago Tribune ran a story on Sunday about the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) warning business that conducting a criminal background check on prospective employees might  subject the company  to a discrimination lawsuit. The commission stated that people cannot be denied employment based solely on criminal histories.  But knowing that information would be exactly why I would NOT want to hire someone!

I decided to do some research on the subject.  I read the” Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions, Under Title VII ofthe Civil Rights Act of 1964,” and learned the following:

Summary

·         “An employer’s use of an individual’s criminal history in making employment decisions may, in some instances, violate the prohibition against employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended.

·         The Guidance discusses disparate treatment and disparate impact analysis under Title VII.

   A violation may occur when an employer treats criminal history information differently for different applicants or employees, based on their race or national origin (disparate treatment liability).

   An employer’s neutral policy (e.g., excluding applicants from employment based on certain criminal conduct) may disproportionately impact some individuals protected under Title VII, and may violate the law if not job related and consistent with business necessity (disparate impact liability).”

The reasons for this change in policy are astounding and are explained by the following suppositions:

(1)        In the last twenty years, there has been a significant increase in the number of Americans who have had contact with the criminal justice system and, concomitantly, a major increase in the number of people with criminal records in the working-age population.

(2)         In 1991, only 1.8% of the adult population had served time in prison. After ten years, in 2001, the percentage rose to 2.7% (1 in 37 adults).

(3)        By the end of 2007, 3.2% of all adults in the United States (1 in every 31) were under some form of correctional control involving probation, parole, prison, or jail.

(4)        The Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (DOJ/BJS) has concluded that, if incarceration rates do not decrease, approximately 6.6% of all persons born in the United States in 2001 will serve time in state or federal prison during their lifetimes.

(5)         In light of employers’ increased access to criminal history information, case law analyzing Title VII requirements for criminal record exclusions, and other developments, the Commission has decided to update and consolidate in this document all of its prior policy statements about Title VII and the use of criminal records in employment decisions. Thus, this Enforcement Guidance will supersede the Commission’s previous policy statements on this issue.

The conclusion of the EEOC is that:

“With respect to criminal records, there is Title VII disparate impact liability where the evidence shows that a covered employer’s criminal record screening policy or practice disproportionately screens out a Title VII-protected group and the employer does not demonstrate that the policy or practice is job related for the positions in question and consistent with business necessity.”

What all that basically sifts down to is that because more people are going to prison and it is easier nowadays to obtain information that someone is a criminal, the criminal need to be put in a protected Title VII group to make sure they are not being discriminated against!

Jeff Nowak, a Chicago labor and employment attorney was quoted in the Tribune story explaining an employer’s conundrum, “Do I want to risk ... being sued by the EEOC or risk criminal conduct by future employees that might impact my clients?"

Think how you would answer that question if any of the people listed below applied for a job at your company.  They were all granted executive clemency or a pardon last year by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn.  Be ready for the lawsuit.

April 22, 2011 Governor Grants
Last Name	First Name	Offense	County(s) of Conviction	Governor Action
Chesney	Steven	Theft; Burglary	Carroll	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Crobsy	Nicholas	Burglary	Champaign	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Mulokwa	Robert	Del. & Poss of Cannabis; Unl Poss w/intent to Del Cont Sub	Cole; Champaign	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Bland	Shatone	Possession of Controlled Substance	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Brillhart-Talley	Stacie	Retail Theft	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Brown	Portia	Theft	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Brown	Jimmie	Aggravated Assault	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Bryant	Mildred	Prostitution	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Carothers	Deborah	Battery; Retail Theft	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Carroccio	Anthony	Battery	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Denman	Leanneal A., Sr.	Manufacture/Delivery of a Controlled Substance	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Diaz	Juan	Carry/Possession of a Firearm in Public	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Dorris	Margaret	Disorderly Conduct; Battery; Obstructing a Police Officer; Retail Theft	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Eason	Zeruiah	Possession with Intent to Deliver	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Fahey	Philip	Burglary	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Hale	Cary	Burglary	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Hammond	Donald Jr.	Possession of Cannabis; Battery	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Harris	Linda	Aggravated Assault	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Holloway	Willie D.	Robbery	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Jackson	Lester	Unlawful Use of Weapon	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Jackson	Barbara	Battery	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Jaramilla	David	Burglary	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Jiminez	Fabian	Burglary	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement

King	Lorrainne	Theft, Possession of a Firearm	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Kirby	Darryl	Theft; Looting	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
LeFlore	Betty	Theft and Forgery	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Lonie	Ronald	Delivery of a Controlled Substance (two counts)	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Mata	Jose	Aggravated Battery	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Meraz	Manuel	Aggravated Battery	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Monda	Jeffrey	Criminal Trespass to Vehicle	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Moore (aka Danielle Hoy, Tammie Terrelle Brown)	Tammie	Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Deliver	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Parks	Reginald	Delivery of a Controlled Substance	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Perkins	Carolyn	Theft	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Porter (aka Dorter; aka Hopkins)	Felicia	Theft	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Profit	Jacqueline	Possession of Controlled Substance	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Reeves	Essie	Theft by Deception	Cook	Grant Pardon Only
Rhodes	Clarence	Possession of Controlled Substance with Intent to Deliver	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Ruffin	Lawrence	Possession of a Stolen Motor Vehicle	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Sieben	Laura	Battery	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Smith	Frederick	Burglary	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Smith	April	Possession with Intent to Deliver	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Smith	Eric	Carry/Possess/Deface Firearm	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Stubbs	Edward E.	Theft	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Tapia	Jhon Andrade	Possession of Controlled Substance	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungemen

Tasch	James	Burglary; Poss. Stolen Property	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Turner	Robert L. Jr.	Burglary	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Velazquez	Joann	Man/Del of a Controlled Substance	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Walton	Charlene	Armed Robbery Discharge of Firearm	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Williams	Merilyn	Theft	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Wilson	Catherine	Theft	Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Chambers	Lisa	Possession of a Controlled Substance; Retail Theft	Cook; Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Love	Eric	Possession and Delivery of a Controlled Substance (two counts)	Cook; Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungment
Williams	Franklin	Burglary; Theft; Theft	Cook; Cook	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Consolazio	Jason	Arson	DuPage	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Folden	Donald	Assault with Intent to Rob	DuPage	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Hinton	Nikesha	Delivery of a Controlled Substance	DuPage	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Hostick (nka Kames)	Rhonda	Burglary	DuPage	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Williams	Linda	Retail Theft	DuPage	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Loehr	Gabrielle	Possession of Burglary Tools	Grundy	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Cunningham	Kevin	Knowing Damage to Property; Possession of Cannabis; Robbery	Kane;Kane	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Abdeljaber	Emad	Reckless Discharge of a Firearm	Lake	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Branklin	Chad	Burglary; Theft	Lake	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Harding	Todd	Theft	Macon	Grant Pardon & Expungement, FOID Language
Roberts	Troy	Unlawful Removal of Vehicle Part	McDonough	Grant Expungement Only
Embrey	Jason	Unlawful Possession with Intent to Deliver	McHenry	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Boykin	Kisha	Theft of more than $300	McLean	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Coates (nka Teverbaugh)	Ladonna	Retail Theft	McLean	Grant Pardon & Expungement

Humphrey	Michael	Theft	McLean	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Rush	Wyatt	Manufacture/Delivery of Cannabis on School Grounds (two counts)	McLean	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Warner	Robert Earl Jr.	Burglary	McLean	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Wiley	Trini	Felony Retail Theft (two counts)	McLean	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Thompson	Emily Lynn	Possession of Cannabis with Intent to Deliver	Menard	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Sowarsh	Bonnie	Battery	Montgomery	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Dietrich	Zachary	Obstructing Justice	Peoria	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Jones	Anthony	Theft	Peoria	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Flemings (-Reynolds)	Shelly	Obstructing Justice	Piatt	Grant Expungement Only
Boyd	Shawn	Resisting a Peace Officer	Rock Island	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Wiman	Robert W.	Theft (two counts); Theft (two counts)	Saline; Saline	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Henderson	Runyon	Unlawful Restraint	Sangamon	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Smith	Thelma	Reckless Conduct	St. Clair	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Pinney	Robert	Unlawful Possession of a Controlled Substance	Warren	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Nunley	Jeremy	Burglary	Whiteside	Grant Pardon & Expungement
Kramer	Patricia	Deceptive Practices	Winnebago	Grant Pardon & Expungement