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Tag:criminal record

California Bans the Box, Twice: Establishing Disparate Impact with General Statistics (Part II)

In addition to adopting a new “Ban the Box” statute, California also recently issued innovative regulations applying general employment discrimination law principles to criminal record screening. The previous post provided some background and discussed how the regulations introduce a “bright-line” approach to when criminal screens are unjustified. This post turns to another innovation, one of […]

California Bans the Box, Twice: Bright-Line Limits on Justifying Criminal Record Screens (Part I)

On January 1, California’s new “Ban the Box” law took effect. Although California is known for its progressive labor policies, it also has a dismal history of racialized mass incarceration, making this development especially important. The new law fits squarely within the wave of “Fair Chance Hiring” policies steadily advancing in states and localities nationwide, […]

Achieving Antidiscrimination Objectives Through “Safe Harbor” Rules for Cases of Chronic Hiring Aversion

As a general matter, and looking only at hiring barriers, our employment discrimination laws have done a good job encouraging employers to take advantage of available talent from populations they might previously not have previously have drawn from. This encouragement comes both from the “stick” – fear of liability and adverse publicity from administrative investigations and lawsuits -- but also from the “carrot”  of benefiting from a broader pool of talent and having any negative preconceptions dissolved by favorable experience.  In these situations, the laws have served to accelerate desirable market outcomes and, at the same time, enhance the participation in our economy of previously marginalized groups.  

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