The Fair Chance Act, California Government Code 12952 (also known as Ban-the-Box),  prohibits employers of five or more people from asking for criminal background information until after a conditional job offer to an applicant.  It also requires individual assessments of a person’s criminal record against job description and allowing the person a chance to respond to any employer decisions based on criminal history.

California’s Civil Rights Department has now filed suit against Ralphs for Fair Chance violations, asserting the supermarket chain:

• used improper questions in seeking criminal history,
• failed to individually assess each applicant’s responses,
• withdrew job offers without appropriate notification or opportunity to respond, and
• disqualified hundreds of applicants for minor crimes unrelated to being a grocery worker.

The CRD is seeking a jury trial to recover lost wages, benefits, and emotional distress and punitive damages.  It also seeks to require Ralphs’ future compliance with the Fair Chance Act.

Kevin Kish, Director of the CRD, said:

“The Fair Chance Act is about giving every Californian an opportunity to thrive. When roughly 70 million Americans have some sort of record, policies like those employed by Ralphs aren’t just discriminatory and against California law, they don’t make sense. We can’t expect people to magically gain the economic and housing stability needed to reintegrate into their communities and stay out of the criminal legal system without a fair chance at steady employment, particularly when the job has nothing to do with a past offense. Ralphs has continued to unlawfully deny jobs to qualified candidates and that’s why we’re taking them to court.”

As part of its efforts to enforce the Fair Chance Act, the CRD also reviews job advertisements online, notifying violators to correct their advertising.

Take-Aways:

Employers need to learn the requirements of the Fair Chance Act and incorporate them into their hiring practices to provide qualified former offenders a road back to being productive members of society.

For further information, please contact Tim Bowles, Cindy Bamforth or Helena Kobrin.

See also:

• Friday, February 23, 2024 Annual Seminar for Employers Covering Employment Legal Essentials and New Workplace Laws (January 16, 2024)
• Fair Warning: California Clamps Down on Fair Chance Act Violations (December 10, 2021)
• California Adopts Ban the Box Law – Employers Cannot Seek Criminal Record Until After Offer to Hire Applicant (October 27, 2017)

Helena Kobrin
January 26, 2024