The administration of President Joe Biden is suing convenience store chain Sheetz and claiming that it disproportionally screens out black, Native American, and multiracial job applicants after criminal conviction checks are conducted.
What are the details?
The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced the lawsuit Thursday, Pittsburgh-based KDKA-TV reported. Sheetz’s headquarters is based in Altoona, Pennsylvania, which is about two hours east of Pittsburgh, and its website indicates the chain operates 500 stores in Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Ohio, and North Carolina.
The EEOC alleges Sheetz disproportionally screened out applicants of the aforementioned races after background checks were conducted, the station said.
However, KDKA reported that the lawsuit does not allege Sheetz was motivated by race when making hiring decisions.
“Federal law mandates that employment practices causing a disparate impact because of race or other protected classifications must be shown by the employer to be necessary to ensure the safe and efficient performance of the particular jobs at issue,” EEOC Regional Attorney Debra M. Lawrence said, according to the station. “Even when such necessity is proven, the practice remains unlawful if there is an alternative practice available that is comparably effective in achieving the employer’s goals but causes less discriminatory effect.”
More from KDKA:
The alleged conduct, according to the EEOC, violates Title VII which prohibits facially neutral employment practices that “cause a discriminatory impact because of race when those practices are not job-related and consistent with business necessity or where alternative practices with less discriminatory impact are available.”
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland following an attempt to reach a pre-litigation settlement.
What did Sheetz have to say?
“Sheetz does not tolerate discrimination of any kind. Diversity and inclusion are essential parts of who we are,” the chain’s public relations manager, Nick Ruffner, said in a statement, according to the station. “We take these allegations seriously. We have attempted to work with the EEOC for nearly eight years to find common ground and resolve this dispute. We will address the claims in court when the time comes.”
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