Target agrees to $2.8 million settlement of discrimination claim
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Target Corp. has agreed to pay $2.8 million to settle charges that its former hiring process discriminated on the basis of race and sex.
The settlement was announced Monday by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Wall Street Journal and the Associated Press report.
The EEOC had found reasonable cause to believe that three assessment tests Target once used during its hiring process disproportionately screened out applicants for professional positions based on race and gender.
An assessment performed by psychologists during Target’s old hiring process also violated the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits employers from subjecting applicants to medical tests before making an offer of employment, the EEOC found.
The EEOC also found that Target had failed to keep sufficient records to assess the impact of its hiring practices.
A Target spokeswoman noted that the EEOC had not found any disparities in the company’s actual hiring, just potential for discrimination.
“We continue to firmly believe that no improper behavior occurred regarding these assessments,” she said.
Target has discontinued its use of the assessment tests the EEOC objected to. It has also agreed to take several steps to ensure the validity of its hiring process, including keeping better data for assessing the impact of its hiring decisions.
