Do Employers Performing Background Checks Risk Discrimination Lawsuits?

An article in today's Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has an interesting discussion of the recent surge in employment discrimination claims based on background checking and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's ("EEOC") recent launch of its "E-Race" initiative (Eradicating Racism and Colorism from Employment), which is aimed specifically at combating discrimination in employment selection.

The article appropriately notes that, in some cases, the mere act of running a background check can land employers in a costly lawsuit (because certain minority groups have a disproportionate rate of negative records, such as convictions, arrests and poor credit ratings, screening for that information in background checks can exclude higher numbers of those applicants).

To read the arcile, visit http://www.post-gazette.com.