The Risks in Background Checks
Current Trends in FCRA Litigation - The Consumer Finance Podcast
AGG Talks: Background Screening - Ban the Box and Fair Chance Hiring Laws: The Year in Review
AGG Talks: Background Screening - Redaction of Identifiers by the Courts Update, Breaking News from California
AGG Talks: Background Screening - Redaction of Identifiers by the Courts in Michigan and California Pose Challenges for Background Checks
In 2016, the city of Los Angeles passed the Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance (FCIHO). Preempting California’s Fair Chance Act (FCA) by nearly two years, the FCIHO prohibits private employers operating in the city...more
As we head into a new year, employers should make plans to implement developments in various areas of employment law that will take effect in 2025 while confirming compliance with changes that have occurred over the past...more
Many employers are already familiar with California’s Fair Chance Act (“FCA”), which went into effect in 2018 and governs how employers may consider an applicant’s criminal history in hiring decisions. Effective October 10,...more
On June 24, 2024, the Legislature of the Virgin Islands overrode Governor Albert Bryan Jr.’s veto of the Fair Chance for Employment Act. The act is intended to prohibit the automatic disqualification of applicants based upon...more
In keeping with the recent proliferation of fair chance legislation at the state and local levels, effective October 10, 2024, businesses with five or more employees who carry out business in unincorporated areas of San Diego...more
The County of Los Angeles has announced a new Fair Chance Ordinance, taking effect on September 3, 2024, that will regulate the consideration of criminal history information by employers with five or more employees in...more
When is an offense a covered “offense” under the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act’s (WFEA) prohibition against arrest record discrimination? This was the question answered by the Wisconsin Court of Appeals in its recent decision...more
New York has enacted the Clean Slate Act, effective November 16, 2024, which will provide for the automatic sealing of certain criminal history records. Upon sealing, the records will be unavailable to most employers in a...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On November 16, 2023, New York became the 12th state to enact “Clean Slate” legislation, which allows certain criminal records to be sealed after an individual is sentenced or released from incarceration,...more
On Nov. 16, 2023, New York State Gov. Kathy Hochul signed legislation, also known as the Clean Slate Act, to automatically seal from public access criminal records for most individuals convicted of a crime....more
After more than a year of administrative activity pertaining to California’s Fair Chance Act (FCA), the California Civil Rights Council issued final modifications to the FCA’s regulations (the “Revised Regulations”). The...more
The California Office of Administrative Law approved the Civil Rights Council’s proposed amendments to regulations regarding consideration of criminal history in employment. Effective October 1, 2023, employers must comply...more
Chicago has amended its “Ban the Box” Ordinance (the “Ordinance”) to further align with Illinois law. The Ordinance, which originally took effect in 2015, provides protections for both prospective and current employees....more
On Jan. 12, 2023, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey held in Ramos v. WalMart, Inc. that Pennsylvania plaintiffs have up to six years to file claims against employers for improper use of criminal history...more
A May 2021 court decision in California, All of Us or None v. Hamrick, caused significant background check delays in some California county courts and left background check companies unable to report some criminal record...more
Over the last several years, federal and state governments have pushed employers to reemploy offenders, such as through tax incentives and subsidized training. Despite the public interest in such initiatives and programs, the...more
An overwhelming majority of states have adopted what is widely known as “ban-the-box” laws or policies that generally prohibit employers from inquiring about an applicant’s criminal background until later in the hiring...more
On November 15, 2021, the city of Des Moines, Iowa, passed a “ban-the-box” law that will limit employer inquiries and background checks into an applicant’s criminal history until after a conditional offer of employment....more
On March 10, 2022, in the case Cree Inc. v. Labor and Industry Review Commission (Cree), the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued a 4-3 opinion holding that the employer’s recission of a job offer based on a domestic violence...more
The Wisconsin Fair Employment Act (WFEA) prohibits employers from discriminating against applicants and employees on the basis of their arrest and conviction records. Generally, an employer cannot make decisions on the basis...more
Q: Ban the Box has been around for several years now, and I know at least one city in Iowa implemented local regulations about background checks. What is the status in Iowa?...more
When Congress enacted the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 in December 2019, Congress included the Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2019 (the Act). The Act, in relevant part, restricts federal...more
Wisconsin is one of a limited number of states that prohibits discrimination in employment on the basis of arrest or conviction records. The Wisconsin Fair Employment Act (WFEA) protects “properly qualified individuals” from...more
The federal Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act of 2019 (Fair Chance Act) officially took effect this week on December 20, 2021. The law was signed two years ago as Section 1123 of the National Defense Authorization Act for...more
In this episode, AGG partner and co-chair of the firm’s Data Privacy Practice, Kevin L. Coy, and Data Privacy associate, Erin E. Doyle, discuss the federal Fair Chance to Compete for Jobs Act, provide an overview of state and...more