Fourth Circuit Rejects EEOC Expert Report Riddled With Errors

We've written before on the questionable statistics used by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) in other cases, and a recent court of appeals case involving background checks suggests that the EEOC is continuing to use such methods despite scathing criticism from courts.

On February 20, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a Maryland federal district court's entry of summary judgment against the EEOC with respect to its lawsuit alleging that an employer's background check program violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. EEOC v. Freeman, Case No. 13-2365 (4^th Cir. Feb. 20, 2015). We blogged the district court's decision here. In both a unanimous majority opinion and a separate concurring opinion authored by U.S. Circuit Judge G. Steven Agee, the judges excoriated the EEOC and its expert for the statistical analysis submitted in support of the agency's claim that the employer's criminal and credit checks had