Following last year’s issuance by the EEOC of controversial criminal background check guidelines, the EEOC has filed a number of lawsuits attempting to enforce these guidelines.  Late last week, Judge Roger Titus, United States District Court District of Maryland, dismissed the lawsuit EEOC filed against Freeman, holding that the EEOC failed to present a prima facie case of disparate impact. See Article from Yahoo!Finance.

In the Opinion, the Judge is critical of the EEOC’s overbroad background check guidelines, and even more critical of the statistical evidence that the EEOC proffered in support of its claims.  The EEOC had argued that Freeman’s criminal background check and credit check policy had a disparate impact on African American males.

The Judge recognized that employers who use background checks “have a clear incentive to avoid hiring employees who have a proven tendency to defraud or steal from their employers, engage in workplace violence, or who otherwise appear to be untrustworthy and unreliable.”

The opinion contains a good summary and analysis of the disparate impact theory and the pitfalls of statistical evidence needed to support the theory.  In addition, the opinion provides a summary of the rather detailed process that this employer used in conducting background checks and determining whether offenses would disqualify employment.  The summary is helpful for employers to assess their own policies.