Settlement in Title VII Lawsuit Brought by EEOC Reminds Employers of the Importance of Maintaining Demographic Records on Their Selection Practices

A recent settlement reached between a janitorial services and facilities management firm and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) regarding whether the company unlawfully failed to maintain applicant records on race, ethnicity, and sex serves as a reminder that the EEOC expects employers to maintain demographic data necessary to allow the agency to assess an employer’s selection practices, and is prepared to sue the employer if it fails to do so.

The settlement in EEOC v. Crothall Services Group, Inc., No. 15-3812 (E.D. Pa. December 16, 2016), in the form of a consent decree, was reached after a federal trial court ruled in June that the recordkeeping provisions found in the Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures (Uniform Guidelines) were mandatory under Title VII.

The case is unusual in that it involves an action brought by the EEOC alleging only a Title VII recordkeeping violation, and no actual allegation of discrimination.  The EEOC argued (and the trial court agreed) that the Uniform Guidelines require all employers subject to Title VII to “maintain and have available for inspection records or other information which will disclose the impact which its tests and other selection procedures have upon employment opportunities of persons by identifiable race, sex, or ethnic group.”

The case thus makes clear that the EEOC expects an employer to retain the demographic data necessary to allow the agency to assess whether the employer’s selection decisions have a discriminatory impact on the basis of race, ethnicity, or sex, and will sue to enforce that position.

Members of the Equal Employment Advisory Council (EEAC) can read more here.