June 2019: Outten & Golden, LLP, along with the NAACP and Youth Represents, filed a class action lawsuit against Macy’s, Inc. challenging its use of an overbroad and unnecessarily punitive criminal history screen in making hiring and termination decisions. The Plaintiff, The Fortune Society, is a non-profit community-based organization whose mission is to support the successful community reentry of individuals involved with the criminal justice system. The Fortune Society alleged that Macy’s criminal background check policies and practices used to screen job applicants and employees violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the New York City Human Rights Law.
September 3, 2020: Judge Ronnie Abrams of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York granted Plaintiffs’ motion to preliminarily approve a settlement requiring Macy’s to reform its background check practices and pay $1.8 million in monetary class relief.
Now is as good a time as ever to settle in with a copy of the EEOC’s Consolidated Guidance on the Use of Arrest and Conviction Records in Employment Decisions under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.
