Fourth Circuit Deals Body Blow To EEOC Hiring Check Enforcement Litigation

Today the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit dealt a lethal blow to the EEOC’s hiring check enforcement litigation in EEOC v. Freeman, No.13-2365 (4th Cir. Feb. 20, 2015). The decision affirms a summary judgment ruling by Judge Roger Titus of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland last August (discussed here), which dismissed the EEOC’s nationwide pattern or practice lawsuit due to the EEOC’s reliance on “laughable” and “unreliable” expert analysis.  The EEOC had alleged that Freeman, Inc., a service provider for corporate events, unlawfully relied upon credit and criminal background checks that caused a disparate impact against African-American, Hispanic, and male job applicants. In today’s ruling, the Fourth Circuit unanimously affirmed Judge Titus’ rejection of the “utterly unreliable analysis” of the EEOC’s expert, while a concurring judge went out of his way to chide the EEOC at length for its litigation tactics across this line of systemic background check cases.

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