BMW Will Pay $1.6 Million And Offer Employment To Settle Race Discrimination Lawsuit

BMW has been ordered to pay $1.6 million to settle a U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) lawsuit that charged it was liable for race discrimination in connection with its former background checks policy, which allegedly disproportionately affected African-Americans.

The 2013 lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Spartanburg, North Carolina, over allegations that when Spartanburg-based BMW switched contractors that were handling the company’s logistics at its production facility there in 2008, it required the new contractor to perform a criminal background screen on all existing logistics employees who reapplied to continue working in their positions at BMW.

The EEOC said, at the time, BMW’s criminal conviction records guidelines excluded from employment all persons with convictions in certain categories of crime, regardless of how long ago the employee had been convicted, or whether the conviction was for a misdemeanor or felony. The complaint states that after the criminal checks were performed, BMW learned that approximately 100 incumbent logistics workers at the facility, 80 percent of whom were African-American, were disqualified from employment. EEOC’s lawsuit sought relief for 56 of these employees who were discharged.

Under terms of the settlement, in addition to paying $1.6 million to resolve the litigation, BMW will offer employment opportunities to the discharged workers in the suit as well as up to 90 African-American applicants who were not hired by BMW’s contractor based on the company’s previous conviction records guidelines.

“EEOC has been clear that while a company may choose to use criminal history as a screening device in employment, Title VII requires that when a criminal background screen results in the disproportionate exclusion of African-Americans from job opportunities, the employer must evaluate whether the policy is job-related and consistent with a business necessity,” wrote David Lopez, the EEOC’s general counsel, in the statement.

BMW wrote in its statement that the settlement affirms its right to use criminal background checks in hiring the workforce at the BMW plant in South Carolina, explaining that the screening is used to ensure the safety and well-being of all who work at the facility.

“BMW has maintained throughout the proceedings that it did not violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and does not discriminate by race in its hiring as evidenced by its large and highly diverse workforce,” wrote the company in its statement. “The BMW plant in South Carolina is in a United States Foreign Trade Zone under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. BMW is a member of the Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism (C-TPAT) and therefore has a business necessity to require criminal background checks not only for its employees, but also the employees of vendors, temporary agencies and contractors who have access to the plant site.”

The EEOC enforces federal laws against employment discrimination, with the Charlotte District Office of EEOC being responsible for investigating charges and litigating cases in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.

“We are pleased with BMW’s agreement to resolve this disputed matter by providing both monetary relief and employment opportunities to the logistic workers who lost their jobs at the facility,” said Lynette Carnes, regional attorney for EEOC’s Charlotte District Office. “We commend BMW for re-evaluating its criminal conviction records guidelines that resulted in the discharge of these workers.”