Settling a federal discrimination lawsuit, Target has agreed to pay $2.8 million and make a number of changes to its hiring practices, a Los Angeles discrimination attorney explains.
The Target Corporation will pay $2.8 million to resolve a federal discrimination case filed against it by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). According to the EEOC announcement regarding this settlement, federal investigators found evidence that Target had used at least three pre-hiring assessments that discriminated against exempt job applicants based on their race, sex and potential disabilities.
While some of these hiring practices were deemed to be unrelated to the job in question or unnecessary to the business at hand, others specifically violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and/or the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Target has since abandoned these discriminatory pre-hiring assessments and has agreed to make various changes in its hiring practices and policies, in addition to agreeing to pay the $2.8 million settlement.
More on the EEOC Discrimination Settlement
As part of its agreement with the EEOC, the Target Corporation has specifically agreed to:
- Changing its job applicant tracking system – This is to ensure that the company is accurately collecting data regarding potential discriminatory hiring practices (and the potential adverse impacts to applicants).
- Conducting a “predictive validity study” for all pre-hiring assessments – This study will focus on the current pre-hiring assessments used and any new evaluations Target wants to put in place.
- Training all personnel involved in the hiring process – Specifically, Target has agreed to hire an outside consultant to conduct this training, which must be at least two hours long and must be conducted annually.
- Reporting back to the EEOC on these efforts – Namely, the EEOC wants to see the results of these changes, evaluating whether Target has lived up to its end of the settlement.
Commenting on this settlement, EEOC Chair Jenny R. Yang has stated:
We applaud Target for taking corrective action to ensure the validity of their hiring practices… This resolution demonstrates the benefits of working with EEOC and serves as a model for businesses committed to effective and lawful selection procedures.
Julianne Bowman, director of EEOC’s Chicago’s District Office, expressed similar sentiments regarding this settlement, stating:
We are pleased that Target 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 Target without resorting to protracted litigation.
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