Friday, July 23, 2010

Woman claims that a refusal to hire felons discriminates against African-Americans and Hispanics

Oakland Tribune:
An Oakland woman is the lead plaintiff in a federal class action lawsuit against the Ohio-based First Transit bus company, one of several service providers for East Bay Paratransit, claiming the company's hiring policy barring applicants with felony convictions is discriminatory against blacks and Latinos and violates civil rights and fair employment laws.

The complaint, filed Tuesday in U.S District Court in San Francisco on behalf of 44-year-old Adrienne Hudson, is backed by the nation's largest transit unions. It asserts that, because blacks and Latinos have a higher incarceration rate nationally, employment-selection policies based on criminal background checks — such as First Transit's — have "a disparate impact on African-American and Latino job applicants and employees."

If blacks and Hispanics have a higher incarceration rate than everyone else then maybe they should be discriminated against when it comes to jobs. Personally, I feel that all jobs should only go to law-abiding citizens.

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