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Pepsi settles Discrimination Lawsuit…

January 11, 2012 by  
Filed under News, Opinion, Weekly Columns

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(ThyBlackMan.com) Pepsi Beverages (Pepsi), formerly known as Pepsi Bottling Group, has agreed to pay $3.13 million and provide job offers and training to resolve a charge of race discrimination filed in the Minneapolis Area Office of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).  The monetary settlement will primarily be divided among black applicants for positions at Pepsi, with a portion of the sum being allocated for the administration of the claims process. Based on the investigation, the EEOC found reasonable cause to believe that the criminal background check policy formerly used by Pepsi discriminated against African Americans in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  

The EEOC’s investigation revealed that more than 300 African Americans were adversely affected when Pepsi applied a criminal background check policy that disproportionately excluded black applicants from permanent employment.  Under Pepsi’s former policy, job applicants who had been arrested were not hired for a permanent job even if they had never been  convicted of any offense.

Pepsi’s former policy also denied employment to applicants from employment who had been arrested or convicted of certain minor offenses. The use of arrest and conviction records to deny employment can be illegal under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, when it is not relevant for the job, because it can limit the employment opportunities of applicants or workers based on their race or ethnicity.

The EEOC has long standing guidance and policy statements on the use of arrest and conviction records in employment,” said EEOC Chair Jacqueline A. Berrien.  “I commend Pepsi’s willingness to re-examine its policy and modify it to ensure that unwarranted roadblocks to employment are removed.”

  During the course of the EEOC’s investigation, Pepsi adopted a new criminal background check policy.  In addition to the monetary relief, Pepsi will offer employment opportunities to victims of the former criminal background check policy who still want jobs at Pepsi and are qualified for the jobs for which they apply.  The company will supply the EEOC with regular reports on its hiring practices under its new criminal background check policy.  Pepsi will conduct Title VII training for its hiring personnel and all of its managers.

“When employers contemplate instituting a background check policy, the EEOC recommends that they take into consideration the nature and gravity of the offense, the time that has passed since the conviction and/or completion of the sentence, and the nature of the job sought in order to be sure that the exclusion is important for the particular position.  Such exclusions can create an adverse impact based on race in violation of Title VII,” said Julie Schmid, Acting Director of the EEOC’s Minneapolis Area Office. “We hope that employers with unnecessarily broad criminal background check policies take note of this agreement and reassess their policies to ensure compliance with Title VII.”

“We obtained significant financial relief for a large number of victims of discrimination, got them job opportunities that they were previously denied, and eradicated an unlawful barrier for future applicants,” said EEOC Chicago District Director John Rowe. “We are pleased that Pepsi chose to work with us to reach this conciliation agreement and that through our joint efforts, we have been able to bring about real change at Pepsi without resorting to litigation.”

The EEOC enforces federal laws against employment discrimination.  The EEOC issued its first written policy guidance regarding the use of arrest and conviction records in employment in the 1980s..  The Commission also considered this issue in 2008 and held a meeting on the use of arrest and conviction records in employment last summer.  The EEOC is a member of the federal interagency Reentry Council, a Cabinet-level interagency group convened to examine all aspects of reentry of individuals with criminal records.

The Minneapolis Area Office is part of the EEOC’s Chicago District.  The Chicago District   is responsible for investigating charges of discrimination in Minnesota, Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and North and South Dakota.  Further information is available at http://www.eeoc.gov .

 


Comments

9 Responses to “Pepsi settles Discrimination Lawsuit…”
  1. tim says:

    The monetary settlement will primarily be divided among black applicants for positions at Pepsi.

    So not one asian, hispanic or white person was denied a job because of a past arrest or will see any $? Just black folks?

  2. Pepsi beverages group has not learned from past mistakes they still discriminate against african americans during their hiring process by firing them if they have an accident during their 90 day probation period. This is even if they haven’t been previously written up for any company rule violation. I am one of those who were and have seen white and hispanic employees receive less harsher punishment for like offenses. If that’s not racial discrimination ….. what is it? Equal opportunity to be hired also means equal opportunityto be fired.

  3. Anthony Neal says:

    Driving offenses are considered criminal. I got denied employment at pbg because I had an open traffic case in 2005. Also today I got denied employment because of a traffic violation that occured in 2002. Didn’t think to check yes for convictions because of it. Anyhow no job & no checks equates to another unemployed black man with an attitude and a chip on his shoulder. This is some bullsh…

  4. Gary says:

    So Im to assume that not one single black person works for Pepsi? I’m white with no criminal background and I grew up in a predominantly black neighborhood. I managed to get through my life without committing a crime and I worked at getting myself educated in a trade that is useful for employers.

  5. marie says:

    Let’s not miss the point that mere arrests were being used here. We still have innocent until proven guilty do we not? The commodification of arrest only info all across the internet and now by our states’ and federal law enforcement, disrespects this basic right and erases the whole purpose and function of our judicial system. We should not accept this expansion of police powers and leave our citizens under suspicion for a lifetime. Fully 1/3 are arrested , all colors, between 18-24 years old, that is a lot of people vulnerable to this un-American activity. Know your rights, guard those rights.

  6. Jack says:

    I believe Brad after reading your comment you should re-think what you stated. I most likely believe that they are not talking about stoned killers and rapist but small things like someone who got into a fist fight when he was in his early twenties or someone who stole a piece of candy when he was 18. There are many scenarios in which people have changed or just plainly grew up. These mistakes have been paid for. These people have families. They should not be withheld from job opportunities because of these mistakes. However if you do that agree and call yourself an american, maybe you’ll be the next article i will be reading of a business owner being sued fir discrimination.

  7. Brad says:

    This disgusts me! I am a business owner and I do not want convicted criminals working for me either. Now we are being told that the Constitution protects CONVICTED CRIMINALS in regards to employment? WHAT? What is this country coming to? Where are we going? If Pepsico discriminated against blacks, then throw the book at them – but to find against Pepsico in this ruling is absurd! Not to mention that, according to what I have read, this settlement will be paid out to blacks that were not afforded the opportunity of a job because of this policy. So the whites that were also left out because of this policy don’t get part of the settlement? Yet again, completely ABSURD! It is time that the black community in this country QUIT claiming discrimination about anything and everything! Sure, discrimination still exists – from both sides mind you, but if you are a CONVICTED CRIMINAL and a company doesn’t want to hire you then you should look elsewhere for employment, like, say the EEOC! Maybe they would hire you but I doubt it!

  8. Adam says:

    Kudos to those who filed this lawsuit and won the settlement! It is not about the financial award that is significant but upholding the rule of law.

    People who make mistakes, are punished for those mistakes, and have shown a track record of rehabilitation should not be denied employment arbitrarily. It does little to lessen crime and creates a revolving door of people coming home, not being able to get work, going back to prison, and the cycle repeats itself.

    Further, it is not the character of our young men that is in question. I do not think had behavior should be excused but when a majority of the prison population or convicts are disproportionally African-American or Hispanic men, it says more about the system than the character of these men.

    There is simply no way to explain the high conviction rate amongst minority groups when they collectively make up less than 30% of the population. Does that mean that most African Americans or Hispanics are bad? I do not think so. Let’s give people a chance to work and actually have a real chance instead of punishing them perpetually for bad choices that they made years ago!!!! This is akin to a punishment for life. Pay your debt to society=should be allowed to integrate fully into society. How else are these people supposed to reform themselves?

    The answer is not spending money on more building prisons but creating programs that prevent crime in the first place.

  9. Malik says:

    I think it’s a sad state of things when we need to argue for things like this under the name of equality. WE need to take charge and attack the root problem: the poor character of many of our young men.

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