A Check On The EEOC Attack On The Credit Check

We have written a few times about the EEOC's closer inspection of background checks and the use of criminal records in employment decisions because of their potential adverse impact on classes of applicants. The EEOC has also been focusing on the use of credit checks in hiring decisions for the same reason, and has commenced litigation against employers who use credit checks. Unfortunately, for the EEOC, a federal appeals court, in EEOC v. Kaplan Higher Education Corp., recently disarmed the EEOC in its attempt at challenging this common practice.

Kaplan, Inc., the for-profit higher education and test preparation company runs credit checks on applications for certain senior-executive positions and for accounting and other positions with access to company financials or cash, or access to student financial-aid information. Kaplan implemented the credit check about ten years earlier following its discovery that employees had stolen payments that belonged to students. The