By Jean M. Wilson and Pamela Q. Devata
Seyfarth Synopsis: On March 14, 2024, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed legislation that would prohibit employers from obtaining or using a true credit report for employment purposes. The proposed law, which includes only limited exceptions, would be one of the most restrictive of its kind in the country. The bill is
Continue Reading Massachusetts Set to Restrict Employers from Using Credit Checks in Making Employment DecisionsBy Pamela Q. Devata and Jennifer L. Mora
Seyfarth Synopsis: Each year, employers revisit and possibly modify their background screening policies and practices to account for newly enacted ban-the-box and other laws impacting background screening. Last year, we saw some major developments, which are highlighted in this blog.
Illinois
Illinois amended the Illinois Human Rights Act to make it
Continue Reading Another Busy Year for Employment-Purposed Background Checks: What Happened in 2021?
By Michael Fleischer, Jean Wilson, and Barry Miller
Synopsis: Massachusetts Attorney General investigates 70 employers (both large and small – across all industries), citing 21 of them for violating the state’s “ban the box” law, which prohibits most businesses from asking about job candidates’ criminal backgrounds on initial employment applications.
Last week, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healy
Continue Reading Mass. AG on the Lookout for Prohibited Criminal History Inquiries
By: Jennifer Mora, Jean Wilson and Barry Miller
Synopsis: Effective October 13, 2018, Massachusetts employers will no longer be permitted to inquire about certain misdemeanor convictions and sealed or expunged records for employment purposes.
Almost ten years ago, Massachusetts became the second state, following Hawaii, to enact a “ban-the-box” law, so-called because they require employers to remove from job
Continue Reading Another Change to Massachusetts’ Ban-the-Box Law
By Brent I. Clark, James L. Curtis, Pamela Q. Devata, and Craig B. Simonsen
Seyfarth Synopsis: Going forward, ATF’s new rule on applications by a trust or legal entity to make or transfer NFA firearms, requires that they be submitted on new forms — including background checks.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Final
Continue Reading ATF Final Rule 41F – Background Checks for Responsible Persons
By Dawn Reddy Solowey and Ariel Cudkowicz
It’s the decision the employment bar has been waiting for: on June 1, 2015, in a 8-1 ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the EEOC in the religious discrimination case of EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch Stores, Inc., which we’ve blogged about before.
Headlines
Justice Scalia — despite having expressed
Continue Reading Wait, I Thought We Couldn’t Ask About Religion in Hiring? The Impact of the Supreme Court’s Ruling in EEOC v. Abercrombie & Fitch
By Sam Schwartz-Fenwick and Amanda Sonneborn
In last week’s oral argument on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage bans, Chief Justice Roberts asked the following question:
Counsel, I’m not sure it’s necessary to get into sexual orientation to resolve the case. I mean, if Sue loves Joe and Tom loves Joe, Sue can marry him and Tom can’t. And the difference
Continue Reading Same-Sex Marriage Bans As Sex Discrimination: The Potential Impact On Plan Sponsors And Employers
Employers are well aware that the protections provided by 42 U.S.C. § 1981 extend to both United States citizens and permanent residents, colloquially referred to as “green card holders.”
Some employers, however, may be unaware that lawfully present aliens who are not green card holders may also be protected by § 1981. In Ruben Juarez v.
Continue Reading Lawfully Present And Protected
By Pamela Q. Devata, Cameron Smith, and Courtney S. Stieber
On April 16, 2015, the New York City Council passed Intro-261-A, a bill that would amend the New York City Human Rights Law to make it an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to use an individual’s consumer credit history in making employment decisions. In particular, the bill makes
Continue Reading New York City To Prohibit Use of Credit History in Employment Decisions
By: Christopher Lowe and Alnisa Bell
On Monday, Governor Chris Christie signed the Opportunity to Compete Act (A1999) into law, which is designed to restrict employers from asking about prior criminal convictions on job applications. Christie enthusiastically hailed New Jersey as “a state that believes every life is precious” and stated, “everyone deserves a second chance . . . Today,
Continue Reading New Jersey Joins “Ban the Box” Movement and Chris Christie Safeguards Employers