The Justice Department reached a settlement with Cobb County, Georgia, addressing allegations that the county’s hiring practices for firefighters violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act by discriminating against African American candidates through the use of credit checks and a written exam, officials announced Thursday.
Cobb County has ceased the disputed practices and agreed to compensate affected applicants with $750,000 in back pay. Additionally, up to 16 disqualified applicants will be offered positions with retroactive seniority.
“This settlement should send a strong message to employers that reliance on a job applicant’s credit history may be discriminatory and unlawful,” said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.
Adding, “Consumer credit checks create a Catch-22 for people seeking access to job opportunities. Cobb County’s hiring practices created artificial barriers that prevented qualified Black job candidates from being considered for firefighter positions. Discriminatory barriers, like credit checks, not only cost candidates a fair chance at a job, they also prevent the public from being served by firefighters drawn from the most robust hiring pool possible.”
“Every person, regardless of race, deserves an equal opportunity to compete for jobs. Employers should identify and eliminate policies and procedures that create a discriminatory impact on applicants based on race,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan for the Northern District of Georgia. “Our office will continue to devote resources to eliminate prejudicial policies that illegally deprive qualified candidates of a fair chance to compete for employment opportunities.”
The department’s lawsuit, filed in the Northern District of Georgia, alleges that Cobb County discriminated in its firefighter hiring process in two ways.
First, candidates are screened based on their credit histories.
Many employers use credit checks when screening applicants based on a mistaken assumption that credit history is a measure of character or job fitness.
As the department alleges, Cobb County could not establish a connection between credit history and job performance or character and thus did not have a lawful reason for using credit history as part of its hiring process.
Second, Cobb County ranked candidates based on their performance on a written examination designed to determine placement level in college classes. The department alleges that these practices disproportionately removed African Americans from consideration for firefighter positions without providing any evidence that candidates who advanced based on these practices were more qualified to serve as firefighters.
Title VII is a federal statute prohibiting employment discrimination based on race, sex, color, national origin, and religion.
Title VII prohibits intentional discrimination and employment practices that result in a disparate impact upon a protected group unless such practices are job-related and consistent with business necessity.
Attorneys Brian McEntire and Juliet Gray of the Civil Rights Division’s Employment Litigation Section and Deputy Chief Aileen Bell Hughes for the Northern District of Georgia’s Public Integrity & Civil Rights Section are handling the matter.