On July 20, 2010, Goldstein, Demchak, Baller, Borgen & Dardarian, along with co-counsel
Hughes, Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd. and the
National Employment Law Project, filed a class action lawsuit alleging race and national origin discrimination against First Transit, Inc., one of the nation’s largest bus companies. The lawsuit,
Hudson v. First Transit, Inc., alleges that First Transit’s blanket policy of rejecting all applicants for employment and terminating all incumbent employees with criminal conviction records regardless of the type or age of the offense is illegal in that it has a disparate impact on African Americans and Latinos, is not related to the jobs in question and cannot be justified by business necessity.
In 2009, plaintiff, Adrienne Hudson, was offered a job as a paratransit bus driver subject to a background check by First Transit. First Transit then rescinded the job offer after the background check revealed Hudson’s seven year old arrest and conviction for welfare fraud, even though the conviction had been judicially dismissed after Hudson successfully completed her sentence (of four days) and probation. National statistics reveal that African Americans and Latinos are many times more likely to face arrests, convictions and incarceration than whites. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 makes it unlawful for an employer to use any selection procedure that has an adverse impact on a protected group (such as African Americans and Latinos) unless the selection procedure is related to performance in the job in question and is justified by legitimate business needs. The case was filed in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California.