EEOC Says Screening Out Criminal Job Applicants Is Racist

Talk about a swift kick in the you-know-where! President Biden stopped at a Sheetz convenience store on a recent campaign stop. Biden ordered a cup of coffee and chatted up employees and customers.

Later that very same day, Biden’s Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) sued Sheetz for racially discriminatory hiring practices. Ouch!

What did the multi-state gasoline and grocery store chain do wrong? Sheetz implemented “a longstanding practice of screening all job applicants for records of criminal conviction and then denying them employment based on those records,” the EEOC alleges.

Sheetz’ across-the-board policy to not hire convicted criminals “violates Title VII, which prohibits facially neutral employment practices that cause a discriminatory impact because of race when those practices are not job-related and consistent with business necessity or where alternative practices with less discriminatory impact are available,” says the EEOC.

Checking on job seekers’ criminal pasts led to 14.5% of Black job applicants being turned away by Sheetz locations, compared to under 8% of Whites, according to the EEOC. Roughly 13% of multi-racial and Native American applicants were turned away by Sheetz stores due to their criminal pasts.

EEOC Expects a Settlement — Will Sheetz Cave?

Sheetz says it doesn’t tolerate racial discrimination of any kind. The company could decide to fight the lawsuit rather than settle. A future case would center on the validity of Sheetz’ reasons to not hire former felons such as increased risk of theft. Most cases like these are settled before ever going in front of a judge and jury.

The EEOC first notified Sheetz of its concerns regarding the company’s hiring practices eight years ago. The company argued its policy helped protect employees and customers from potential risk. Neither side agreed on a financial settlement or correction plan. The EEOC says it doesn’t believe Sheetz’ policy is the result of racial animus toward minorities, but nonetheless, it violates civil rights law.

Sheetz owns and operates more than 600 stores in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Ohio and North Carolina, and is breaking ground on its first store in Michigan. Fortune magazine Sheetz as one of the best companies to work for last year.

The Sheetz family were dairy famers in Altoona, PA before opening their first store in 1952. More than 23,000 people work for the business today.