On July 1, 2014, the court granted class certification in a high-profile disparate impact discrimination case against the Census Bureau in federal court in New York based on its criminal record screening practices, Houser et al. v. Pritzker. The plaintiffs are represented by a well-known New York class action law firm and not by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The suit seeks back pay and equitable relief for a class of unsuccessful Latino and African-American job applicants. The Bureau allegedly discriminated against the class members by (1) requiring them to provide the Bureau with detailed information about their prior criminal records in order to progress in the hiring process (referred to as the 30-day Letter), and (2) rejecting job applicants on the basis of an allegedly arbitrary and inflexible assessment of their prior criminal records.
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