On March 28, 2017, Outten & Golden, LLP filed an Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (“EEOC”) charge on behalf of Walter Pickett and a putative class of other job applicants similarly impacted by DHL Supply Chain’s (“DHL’s”) criminal background check policies and practices. Mr. Pickett alleges that DHL violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”) by refusing to hire as employees individuals like him with criminal histories.
According to his EEOC charge, Mr. Pickett was hired for a temporary warehouse position in February 2016 by Snider-Blake, a staffing agency for DHL, and then worked successfully for several months for DHL at a warehouse in University Park, Illinois. For more than eight months, Mr. Pickett successfully worked alongside permanent DHL employees who performed the same job duties as him. In November 2016, Mr. Pickett applied to change his employment status from temporary to permanent employee for the pay increase and added employee benefits. He underwent a background check as part of the application process. In a letter dated December 8, 2016, Mr. Pickett was informed by DHL that it was denying his employment based on the information it had received from his background check.
Mr. Pickett, on his own behalf and the behalf of a putative class of applicants, brings claims against DHL for violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. (as amended), and other laws (including Illinois discrimination laws), on account of his race, color, and/or sex. The charge requests that the EEOC investigate the claims his makes on a class wide basis and against DHL.
Individuals who applied to work as employees for DHL and were denied employment because of their criminal records may be eligible to participate in the EEOC investigation and any subsequent lawsuit. If Mr. Pickett’s allegations seem familiar to what happened to you, we would like to talk to you. Contact us here. You can also call us at (212) 245-1000.