Pamela Devata Quoted in Associated Press
“Pepsi Beverages pays $3.1M in racial bias case”

Employment partner Pamela Devata was quoted in a January 11 Associated Press article which discussed employers’ use of criminal background checks to screen job applicants. The article focused on Pepsi Beverages Co., whose use of these checks recently resulted in a $3.1 million settlement to assuage federal charges of race discrimination.

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), Pepsi’s hiring policy, which denied applicants who had been arrested, limited job opportunities for minorities with higher arrest and conviction rates than whites. The settlement is part of a national effort to curtail hiring policies that could have adverse affects on minority candidates.

According to Pam, over the past year the EEOC has increased the number of charges over employers’ use of background checks. "The EEOC has taken a very aggressive enforcement posture on the use of criminal background and criminal history," she noted.