A federal trial court in New Jersey recently dismissed a plaintiff’s Title VII lawsuit accusing a company of race discrimination for declining to interview him. The plaintiff alleged that the company violated Title VII by soliciting his race and then repeatedly denying him an interview because he had self-disclosed that he was an African-American man.
The ruling in Dougboh v. Cisco Systems, Inc., No. 2:13-cv-04267 (D.N.J. October 20, 2016) is worth paying attention to, because a central issue in the case was whether recruiters had access to applicant demographic data. The court found that the plaintiff failed to create an inference of discrimination because the company, a federal contractor that was required to solicit race and ethnicity data as part of its affirmative action obligations, was able to demonstrate that the recruiters who declined the plaintiff’s various requests for an interview had no knowledge of his race.
The case thus serves as an important reminder that access to applicant or employee demographic data should be on a strict “need-to-know” basis, and that restricting recruiter access can in fact benefit the company’s overall compliance stance and assist in defending against allegations of discrimination.
Members of the Equal Employment Advisory Council (EEAC) can read more here.