Illinois Restricts Employers From Using Conviction Records in Making Employment Decisions

by Elsa Andrianifahanana, David Birnbaum, Michael Gray, Brent Knight, Jonathan Linas, Elizabeth McRee, Jennifer Plagman, E. Michael Rossman, Efrat Schulman, Samantha Woo, Ann-Marie Woods - Jones Day - JD Supra

In Short

The Situation: Recent amendments to the Illinois Human Rights Act ("IHRA") restrict Illinois employers from relying upon conviction records to make adverse employment decisions unless they comply with new substantive and procedural safeguards.

The Result: Illinois employers cannot rely upon conviction records to make adverse employment decisions unless, after providing notice, an opportunity to respond, and considering any mitigating factors, the employer concludes there is a "substantial relationship" between the conviction and the job at issue and/or the individual's employment presents an "unreasonable risk" to property, safety, or individual welfare.

Read more: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/illinois-restricts-employers-from-using-3163187/

As more states legalize marijuana, people with drug convictions want their records cleared

by Courtney Vinopal - PBS News Hour

Michael has struggled with kidney disease since he was in his early 20s serving in the military. The high stress of the job ultimately put him in the hospital, and he was not able to return to the service due to his condition. The 37-year-old Virginia Beach resident, who requested his name be changed because of concerns about retaliation from future employers, said that a nurse mentioned during that hospital stay that marijuana could help alleviate many of his symptoms, like nausea and vomiting. But at the time, the substance was not legal in Virginia.

Read more: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/as-more-states-legalize-marijuana-people-with-drug-convictions-want-their-records-cleared

Pending legislation would curtail criminal background checks for renters

by Colleen O’Dea - NJ Spotlight News

New Jersey lawmakers and social-justice advocates launched a push Tuesday for legislation to help the formerly incarcerated rent an apartment by curtailing the ability of landlords to deny housing to some people based on their criminal histories.

The Fair Chance Housing Act, embodied in S-250 and A-1919, is an effort to “ban the box” that asks whether a person has been convicted of a crime on housing-rental applications. The bills would still allow a landlord to ultimately deny renting to someone with a criminal record based on certain criteria and if the landlord has a “substantial, legitimate and nondiscriminatory interest” in doing so. But failure to follow the law would subject a landlord to penalties.

Read more: https://www.njspotlight.com/2021/04/nj-legislation-criminal-background-checks-renters-application-discrimination-fines-for-landlords/

Canada: New Federal Privacy Legislation is Moving Through the Legislative Process

by Rhonda Levy and Monty Verlint - Littler - JD Supra

On November 17, 2020, Canada’s federal Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry introduced Bill C-11, An Act to enact the Consumer Privacy Protection Act and the Personal Information and Data Protection Tribunal Act and to make consequential and related amendments to other Act (Bill C-11) for consideration in the House of Commons. The short title of Bill C-11 is the Digital Charter Implementation Act, 2000, and its aim is to reform federal private sector privacy legislation.

Read more: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/canada-new-federal-privacy-legislation-5598325/

Iowa Supreme Court Urged to Strike Down ‘Ban the Box’ Ordinance

by Rox Laird - Courthouse News Service

DES MOINES, Iowa (CN) — An Iowa city’s ordinance that initially bars employers from checking job applicants’ criminal records should be struck down because it conflicts with state and federal law, an Iowa business group told the state’s high court Wednesday.

The Waterloo City Council passed the ordinance in 2019 inspired by the “ban the box” movement that protects job applicants from being denied jobs based on their criminal records, which most directly impacts members of minority groups. Waterloo has the highest percentage of African Americans of any city in Iowa, and Blacks make up 40% to 60% of inmates at the Black Hawk County Jail at any given time.

Read more: https://www.courthousenews.com/iowa-supreme-court-urged-to-strike-down-ban-the-box-ordinance/

Philadelphia Enacts Key Changes to ‘Ban the Box,’ Credit Screening Ordinances

by Susan M. Corcoran, Richard Greenberg, Eileen K. Keefe, Timothy M. McCarthy - The National Law Review

Changes to Philadelphia law will further restrict employers’ use and reliance on applicant, current employee, and independent contractor background information and affect the employee application and employee management process.

Amendments to Philadelphia’s Unlawful Credit Screening Practices in Employment ordinance and Fair Criminal Record Screenings Standards ordinance (FCRSS), commonly referred to as the “Ban the Box” regulation, took effect March 21, 2021, and April 1, 2021, respectively. The regulations supplement the governing requirements of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Pennsylvania’s Criminal History Record Information Act (CHRIA).

Read more: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/philadelphia-enacts-key-changes-to-ban-box-credit-screening-ordinances

Disputed Liability on Debt Does Not Give Rise to “Inaccuracy” for FCRA Claim, Northern District of Alabama Holds

by David Krueger - JD Supra

There is an important distinction in FCRA litigation between cases where a consumer disputes the inaccuracy of information being reported to consumer reporting agencies versus where the consumer is disputing liability for the debt itself, as shown by the Northern District of Alabama’s recent decision in Edwards v. Med-Trans Corp., No. 2:20-CV-00114, 2021 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 53424 (N.D. Ala. March 22, 2021). In Edwards, Air-ambulance service Med-Trans charged Andrew Edwards about $50,000 for flying him from Chattanooga, Tennessee to Birmingham, Alabama. Edwards, who was in a medically induced coma at the time, argued that he did not agree to pay for the flight. The parties tried to negotiate the sum, but talks failed.

Read more: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/disputed-liability-on-debt-does-not-6495169/

Why Background Checks and Credit Reports Should Be a Core Part of Reputational Risk Management

by Julia Magas - Business 2 Community

Being an entrepreneur can bring you into contact with a vast network of people, including clients, suppliers, employees, contractors, fellow CEOs and leaders, and more. Our relationships with these networks are often predicated on the basic principles of good old-fashioned trust. However, as a business grows, so does the network of people it interacts with. While it’s wonderful to think that we can rely on our intuition to tell us something’s off, that isn’t always the case.

Read more: https://www.business2community.com/public-relations/why-background-checks-and-credit-reports-should-be-a-core-part-of-reputational-risk-management-02393995

New York City Expands Applicant and Employee Protections Under Its “Ban the Box” Law

by Amanda Gomez, Nancy Gunzenhauser Popper, Susan Gross Sholinsky, Epstein Becker & Green - JD Supra

On January 10, 2021, Int. 1314-A (“Law”) was enacted,[1] and it goes into effect on July 28, 2021. The Law significantly expands job applicants’ protections under New York City’s Fair Chance Act (“FCA”), otherwise known as the “ban-the-box law.”[2] Among other things, the scope of FCA protections now includes pending arrests and other “criminal accusations” (not just criminal convictions), and prohibits inquiries into certain matters even after an employer makes a conditional job offer.

Read more: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/new-york-city-expands-applicant-and-8034746/

Virginia Governor Signs Consumer Privacy Law

by Lisa Nagele-Piazza - SHRM

Gov. Ralph Northam recently signed the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act (CDPA), which will give consumers certain rights to control how their personal data is used beginning Jan. 1, 2023.  

Virginia is the second state to pass a comprehensive data privacy law, following California. Notably, however, Virginia's legislation has a carve-out for information collected in the employment context, whereas California's law applies to some employment data.

Read more: https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/state-and-local-updates/pages/virginia-governor-signs-consumer-privacy-law.aspx