Emily Sortor  |  April 9, 2018

Category: Labor & Employment

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Target class action lawsuitFor $3.75 million, Target has settled a class action lawsuit alleging that the company’s background check policy is discriminatory.

As a result of the settlement, Target will take action to remedy the alleged discrimination including giving hiring preference to previously rejected black and Latino job applicants, pay damages to those no longer seeking jobs at Target, revise its background check system, and support nonprofits who help formerly incarcerated individuals find employment.

Plaintiffs Carnella Times and Erving Smith were previous job seekers at Target who believed they faced discrimination due to Target’s background check policy. They claimed that Target’s background check violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, because it disadvantages black and Latino job applicants.

The Target discriminatory hiring practices class action lawsuit alleged that Target doesn’t hire job applicants who have been convicted of felonies involving “violence, theft, or controlled substances,” in the seven years before they submitted their application. According to the workers, Target also does not hire applicants who they believe lied about or misrepresented their criminal backgrounds.

Times and Smith claimed that this practice is illegal under Tile VII because it affectively “imports the radical and ethnic disparities that exist in the criminal justice system into the employment process.” Thus, the workers claim that Target’s hiring practices amplify existing discrimination, disadvantaging black and Latino job applicants more than white applicants.

Target has agreed to a class action settlement, stating that they will take actions that include actively giving preference to more than 41,000 black and Latino job applicants who were previously rejected because of criminal history. The company will pay the $3.75 million to applicants who are no longer seeking employment with Target and were previously denied. Additionally, the company has agreed to donate $600,000 to nonprofit organizations who help previously incarcerated individuals find a job.

The company will also reportedly hire independent consultants to assess Target’s background check policy, and hire organizational psychology experts to analyze how Target uses criminal background checks in hiring decisions, and to help the company find a new, less discriminatory way to approach that information. 

In a positive response to the Target discriminatory background check policy class action lawsuit, the workers stated that the settlement “provides a process for remedying Target’s allegedly flawed hiring policies; it affords class members opportunities to obtain jobs or compensation; it funds a [system] that will help nonprofit organizations engaged in re-entry work.”

The workers expressed pleasure at the fact that the settlement not only compensated workers directly impacted, but makes efforts to better Target’s hiring approach going forward, and aids organizations working to decrease discrimination on a societal level.

Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.

Times and Smith are represented by Ossai Miazad, Adam T. Klein, Lewis Steel, Cheryl-Lyn Bentley, and Christopher M. McNerney of Outten & Golden LLP; and Sherrilyn Ifill, Samual Spital, and Coty Montag of NAACP Legal Defense Fund.

The Target Discriminatory Background Checks Class Action Lawsuit is Carnella Times, et al. v. Target Corporation, Case No. 1:18-cv-02993, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

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168 thoughts onTarget Will Pay $3.75M to Settle Employee Discrimination Class Action

  1. Dion bush says:

    I still haven’t received anything at all this is really frustrating

  2. Bryiona Williams says:

    I still hadn’t received anything!!! So what’s up ?!?

    1. L says:

      Me neither but a few people saying they got checks for 156 I need that number

      1. Warren in Indianapolis says:

        If all we got was $156 we got screwed by target and then the judicial system screwed us again

      2. Warren in Indianapolis says:

        They paid out $3 million and all we got is $156 that some bullshit

    2. L says:

      Me either you know the number to call.

    3. Dion Allen says:

      Same here smh

  3. Payday says:

    I called and they said they mailed the checks out yesterday. They wouldn’t tell me how much but they was mailed out!!

    1. Skyy says:

      $150 odd dollars ??‍♀️? got mine today !

    2. S says:

      Hi what number do we call?

    3. Rebekah says:

      How does it go from receiving a $1000.00 dollar check to $156.00 dollar check .. HUGE Difference!!!! That some Bull!!

      1. John says:

        Same here 156.00!!! Holy hell thought for waiting 5 or 6 months extra we’d be incentivised not penalized

      2. Warren in Indianapolis says:

        Ikr. I was told it Was a thousand dollars and I see some people saying $150-$156 that’s bullshit. I haven’t Received mine as of yet now understand why she didn’t tell you over the phone how much it was because she didn’t want to hear all the griping and complaining that some bullshit

      3. Warren m says:

        Ikr. I was told it Was a thousand dollars and I see some people saying $150-$156 that’s bullshit. I haven’t Received mine as of yet now understand why she didn’t tell you over the phone how much it was because she didn’t want to hear all the griping and complaining that some bullshit

  4. Manola Gill says:

    Thank you for your email.

    The parties have recently finalized the allocation methodology for the payments. We are working update our calculations in order to issue the payments. We are hoping to issue the payments by the end of June.

    This was the email sent to me when I emailed them about the settlement checks!!!!

    1. Dion Allen says:

      I really hope so

  5. Nikki says:

    It’s June now still no check and they told y’all March how do y’all feel about that

    1. D says:

      ? I knew this was Rey get comical this whole thing a damn joke anyways ???????

    2. Skyy says:

      I think we all giving up hopeful we get that surprise in the mail any day now !

  6. Elsa says:

    Any news yet?

    1. l says:

      i’ve read that even though the judge gave final approval on it it can still be appealed so its possible thats whats going on cause we should have been got them i received my letter oct.16 and returned it within days that’s almost seven months ago. and they said it was approved dec.19 which was five months ago

  7. Manola Gill says:

    Has anyone gotten word or anything in the mail yet about the settlement. Or when they think the checks will start coming out to the ones who settled for the $$??

    1. l says:

      also i think this their way of stalling the payment cause im sure whoever chose the job should have been hired and working. i chose the thousand cause the applying for the job is what got this settlement started in the first place hopefully something soon

  8. PWonka says:

    ??? I wish I could at least get stimulated by the government.. hopefully they will be mailing checks soon

  9. Eric (bubba mcspicy) says:

    I apologize 4 that everybody, I was in a joking mood. Things have been tough, I got the same run around that all of you mentioned. I got my notice in august 2019 and God knows when we need that money most. Hopefully we’ll get $2,000 for our wait. I love you all, I like 2 make people laugh. God bless.

  10. Bryiona Williams says:

    This is ridiculous! I mean how long are we supposed to sit and wait on something that we’re all owed ? First it’s end of December, then End of Jan, then end of February, then end of March… blah blah blah. I am too annoyed with the pacifying lies! It’s already enough going on with the world smh

    1. Ronnie Alfred Walker says:

      im telling you…. every month they say its the next month

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