Census Class Certification

A major decision was reached on July 1, 2014 in the Houser v Pritzker case pending in the U.S. District Court Southern District of New York. The case was filed on April 13, 2010 against the Census Bureau, an agency of the United States Department of Commerce that is charged with conducting a population and housing census every ten years.

The case concerns a class of African American and Latino plaintiffs who underwent criminal background checks as part of their job application process during the 2010 decennial. The Plaintiffs contend that the Census Bureau’s hiring procedures violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because they cause a disproportionately adverse effect on minorities. The Plaintiffs allege that the hiring procedure is racially discriminatory because it precluded 93% (approximately 700,000) of the applicants with arrest records from being considered for employment.

In its decision, the Court denied the Census Bureau’s motion to dismiss for lack of subject matter jurisdiction finding that the Plaintiffs had standing to sue. The named Plaintiffs will have to establish that they were eligible to be considered for the position, but they will not have to demonstrate that they would have been hired after being evaluated in comparison to other applicants. In addition, the Court held that five out of eight named Plaintiffs had standing to sue under Title VII.

Further, the Court granted class certification to a class consisting of African American applicants who applied for temporary employment during the 2010 census that were harmed by the Census Bureau’s 30-day Letter or Adjudication Criteria. The Court will allow the Plaintiffs to move the Court to amend the Second Amended Complaint and the class certification order if they are able to identify a suitable Latino class representative. The Court stated that the putative Plaintiff’s claims are redressable through injunctive relief and through a monetary award of back pay.

The employment lawyers at Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP view this decision as a milestone for future Plaintiffs who have potential discrimination claims under Title VII. Please contact our office at (212) 300-0375 to speak to one of our employment lawyers if you believe you have a potential discrimination claim. For more information, please visit our website https://www.fslawfirm.com/ or www.Backgroundcheckdiscrimination.com.