BMW Manufacturing will pay $1.6M to settle EEOC suit over criminal background checks
BMW Manufacturing has agreed to pay $1.6 million to settle a suit that claimed its use of criminal background checks had a disparate impact on African-Americans at its facility in Greer, South Carolina.
The manufacturer will also provide job opportunities to 56 African-Americans who were fired after the background checks, as well up to 90 African-American job applicants who were turned down for jobs because of the checks. Greenville Online, Business Insurance, the State and the Associated Press have stories. An EEOC press release is here.
The settlement resolves a suit filed in 2013 by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that contended the background checks weren’t consistent with business necessity.
The suit had claimed BMW switched contractors handling the company’s logistics, and it required the new contractor to perform criminal background checks on all existing logistics employees who reapplied to continue working in their positions. At the time, BMW banned all employees who had records in certain categories of crime, no matter how long ago the conviction.
According to the EEOC, about 80 percent of the employees who lost their jobs because of the background checks were African-Americans.
The settlement comes after U.S. District Judge Henry Herlong refused BMW’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit and denied the EEOC’s motion for partial summary judgment. Courthouse News Service reported on the July 30 decision.
BMW has revised its background check policy, but says it will continue to use the checks “to ensure the safety and well-being of all who work at the BMW plant site.” The company says it does not discriminate “as evidenced by its large and highly diverse workforce.”
