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How To Protect Yourself From Hiring Discrimination Lawsuits

The ingredients in a hiring discrimination lawsuit

Some of the main ingredients in a discrimination lawsuit include inconsistent hiring practices and violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Regardless of how sophisticated the recruitment process is at any company, it is very important to recruit and hire every job candidate in the same manner. In other words, hire everyone the same way every time regardless of their race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or age.

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex (including sexual harassment or pregnancy), or national origin. It also protects employees who complain about such offenses from retaliation. Violating this Civil Rights Act will most likely result in hiring discrimination claims and fines from the the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

Be consistent and fair

Many employers think that hiring discrimination lawsuits only occur in small or unknown companies. Not only is this kind of thinking wrong but it can also lead to a hiring discrimination lawsuit. Consider that in December 2005, Abercrombie & Fitch paid $40 million to class members as a result of a hiring discrimination lawsuit claiming that Abercrombie & Fitch discriminated against Latino, African American, Asian American and female applicants. Consistency is key to reducing hiring discrimination lawsuits.
Consistent hiring practices include:

• Hiring Practices Checklist
• Pre-Employment Inquiries
• Screening Applicants
• Interviews
• Reference Checks
• Medical and Drug Testing
• Polygraph Testing
• Background Screening
• The Americans with Disabilities Act guidelines
• Age Discrimination in Employment Act guidelines

When an employer hires a professional firm to conduct employee background screening, consistency is being practiced. Employment background screening firms provide objective and unbiased information to help employers make sound hiring and business decisions based on facts.

Resources to avoid when making a hiring decision

No matter how tempting social and professional networking websites may be, they should be relied upon to make sound hiring decisions. The use of personal information, accessibility issues and accuracy of information make these resources very risky.

An employer must not discriminate because the candidate included something strange on a social network website. Consequences of misusing the information on social and professional networking websites include hiring discrimination lawsuits and claims of invasion of privacy.

An unbiased alternative

An employer has the responsibility to take due care of its assets and employees. A negligent lawsuit can result if an employer fails to do so. The other side to this issue is how much information does an employer really need to protect its interests. Many employers are now in a damned if I do--damned if I don’t situation.

An alternative to this dilemma is the use of a professional pre-employment background screening firm. When all prospective employees go through the same screening process the chance of problems with hiring discrimination is greatly reduced. An employer is acting in an objective and unbiased manner when a job offer is made based on unbiased findings from an employee background-screening firm.