Attorney's take from Cy-Fair, Texas

As the WSJ Law Blog reports, Sens. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., and Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., took up the issue on a federal level. The Senators wrote to the EEOC and U.S. Department of Justice, asking both agencies to investigate the practice of requiring applicants to provide their social-networking-site log-in information during the hiring process.

The letter to the U.S. DOJ sought a legal opinion as to whether the practice violates the Stored Communications Act (SCA) or the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA). The letter citesPietrylo vs. Hillstone Restaurant Group, as support of the proposition that mandating Facebook log-ins violates the SCA.

Stay tuned…we haven’t seen the last of this issue yet, and if you are presently faced with this issue, please contact me today, I would like to help, Eric

On April 25, 2012, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued an Enforcement Guidance on employer use of arrest and conviction records in employment decisions under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII).  The Enforcement Guidance clarifies and updates the EEOC’s longstanding policy that a categorical exclusion from employment of individuals with a criminal record raises disparate impact concerns.

The EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance comes at an important time.  In the last 20 years, an increasing number of Americans, including a disproportionate number of persons from protected status groups, have had contact with the criminal justice system.  As a result, more and more job applicants now have criminal records.  Simultaneously, advances in technology have made accessing applicants’ criminal history oftentimes as easy as pressing a button.  Given these developments, it is essential for employers to maintain proper policies for criminal record screening.

Full story continued….http://www.publiclawnews.com/public-blawg/2012/05/eeoc-issues-guidance-regarding-consideration-criminal-records-employment-decisi