Workforce Management
October 2009
Even employers that limit the types of screening results that will lead to adverse hiring decisions may violate federal law.
By Fay Hansen
Explosive growth in the background screening industry during the past decade has generated near-universal adoption of criminal checks and a steady rise in credit checks for all U.S. job candidates.
In some industries, recruiters are using criminal and credit screening as a quick and easy method for culling the ever-larger pile of applications. But this growing reliance on screening is on a collision course with new legislative restrictions, legal challenges and mounting evidence that such results are poor predictors of behavior and performance.
Even employers that limit the types of screening results that will lead to adverse hiring decisions may violate federal law. On October 1, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission filed a discrimination lawsuit against Freeman Cos., a nationwide convention and corporate events marketing company.
Since at least 2001, Freeman has rejected job applicants based on their credit history and if they have had various types of criminal charges or convictions, the suit claims. The EEOC says these exclusionary practices are not job-related or justified by business necessity.
In March, the EEOC settled a lawsuit against Franke Foodservice Systems, which refused to hire a black applicant who disclosed a felony conviction on his application even though the company hired a white applicant a year earlier who made a similar disclosure. A spate of EEOC and private lawsuits are pending against other companies for unlawfully denying employment to people with criminal records or bad credit histories.
Full Story: http://www.workforce.com/archive/feature/26/74/44/index.php
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Sweden to abolish affirmative action at universities
AFP
January 12, 2010
STOCKHOLM — The Swedish government said Tuesday it would abolish affirmative action at universities since the practice has resulted in male students being given admissions priority for several popular programmes.
"The education system should open doors -- not slam them in the face of motivated young women," Higher Education Minister Tobias Krantz wrote in an article in Sweden's leading daily Dagens Nyheter.
The government has allowed universities to practice affirmative action since 2003 in order to encourage an equal number of men and women at the country's universities.
Criticism has raged in Sweden recently after male students have been given priority to popular programmes where men are under-represented, in particular the medicine, psychology, veterinary and dentistry faculties.
For those programmes in particular, there are more women applicants with top grades than men, yet the men are admitted because of the affirmative action rule.
Women represent about 60 percent of university students in Sweden, a pioneer in gender equality.
Full Story: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gALVsG_Q_ysXgkyHHewzqkoTxSnw
January 12, 2010
STOCKHOLM — The Swedish government said Tuesday it would abolish affirmative action at universities since the practice has resulted in male students being given admissions priority for several popular programmes.
"The education system should open doors -- not slam them in the face of motivated young women," Higher Education Minister Tobias Krantz wrote in an article in Sweden's leading daily Dagens Nyheter.
The government has allowed universities to practice affirmative action since 2003 in order to encourage an equal number of men and women at the country's universities.
Criticism has raged in Sweden recently after male students have been given priority to popular programmes where men are under-represented, in particular the medicine, psychology, veterinary and dentistry faculties.
For those programmes in particular, there are more women applicants with top grades than men, yet the men are admitted because of the affirmative action rule.
Women represent about 60 percent of university students in Sweden, a pioneer in gender equality.
Full Story: http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gALVsG_Q_ysXgkyHHewzqkoTxSnw
University of Virginia picks its first female president
Washington Post
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Leaders of the University of Virginia on Monday elected Teresa A. Sullivan, provost at the University of Michigan, to succeed John T. Casteen III as president of Virginia's higher education flagship.
Sullivan, 60, starts work Aug. 1 in a post regarded as one of the most visible in public higher education. She will receive an annual compensation package of $680,000 and will be the first female president of U-Va., the school founded in 1825 as an "academical village" by Thomas Jefferson.
Like many in the top echelons of academe, Sullivan is regarded as both a scholar and an accomplished administrator. She has served as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Michigan, one of the nation's most prestigious public universities, since 2006.
Sullivan, 60, starts work Aug. 1 in a post regarded as one of the most visible in public higher education. She will receive an annual compensation package of $680,000 and will be the first female president of U-Va., the school founded in 1825 as an "academical village" by Thomas Jefferson.
Like many in the top echelons of academe, Sullivan is regarded as both a scholar and an accomplished administrator. She has served as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Michigan, one of the nation's most prestigious public universities, since 2006.
Court Dismisses Challenge to James Madison's Sports Cuts
Inside Higher Ed
January 12, 2010
A federal judge late last month dismissed a lawsuit in which advocates for men's sports challenged the legality both of James Madison University's 2006 decision to eliminate 10 sports and of the U.S. Education Department guidelines on which the university based that decision. The strongly worded opinion by Judge Glen E. Conrad of the federal court in western Virginia rejects claims by the group Equity in Athletics, Inc., that the government's 1979 guidelines to carry out Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 in athletics violated a wide range of federal and Virginia laws.
Full Story: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/01/12/qt#217292
January 12, 2010
A federal judge late last month dismissed a lawsuit in which advocates for men's sports challenged the legality both of James Madison University's 2006 decision to eliminate 10 sports and of the U.S. Education Department guidelines on which the university based that decision. The strongly worded opinion by Judge Glen E. Conrad of the federal court in western Virginia rejects claims by the group Equity in Athletics, Inc., that the government's 1979 guidelines to carry out Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 in athletics violated a wide range of federal and Virginia laws.
Full Story: http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/01/12/qt#217292
Monday, January 11, 2010
The Promise Of Diversity Is Yet To Be Fulfilled
NPR.com
January 11, 2010
Between the 1970s and today, the term "affirmative action" fell out of favor, and in its place, "diversity" emerged.
Affirmative action, grounded in law and the moral obligation to right historic wrongs, was aimed at women and racial minorities. Over the years, it became tainted by controversy over reverse discrimination and quota-mongering.
Diversity, on the other hand, was perceived to be not about preferences, but "fairness and inclusion." It embraced every group in the workforce: minorities, women, older workers, disabled workers, gays, lesbians — and white males.
Diversity largely was not seen as a burden, but rather as an opportunity. Companies began to see how a diverse workforce could help them venture into new markets.
Recent decades have brought a positive shift in thinking, but challenges still exist, UCLA and Columbia University legal scholar Kimberle Crenshaw tells Morning Edition guest host Deborah Amos.
Full Story
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122370935
Listen to the Interview:
http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=122370935&m=122436084
January 11, 2010
Between the 1970s and today, the term "affirmative action" fell out of favor, and in its place, "diversity" emerged.
Affirmative action, grounded in law and the moral obligation to right historic wrongs, was aimed at women and racial minorities. Over the years, it became tainted by controversy over reverse discrimination and quota-mongering.
Diversity, on the other hand, was perceived to be not about preferences, but "fairness and inclusion." It embraced every group in the workforce: minorities, women, older workers, disabled workers, gays, lesbians — and white males.
Diversity largely was not seen as a burden, but rather as an opportunity. Companies began to see how a diverse workforce could help them venture into new markets.
Recent decades have brought a positive shift in thinking, but challenges still exist, UCLA and Columbia University legal scholar Kimberle Crenshaw tells Morning Edition guest host Deborah Amos.
Full Story
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122370935
Listen to the Interview:
http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=122370935&m=122436084
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