Arroyo v. Accenture
On April 8, 2010, the Employment Project filed a class action challenge of the misuse of a criminal background check by one of the largest management consulting firms in the world. InArroyo v. Accenture, No 10-civ-3013 (S.D.N.Y. filed on April 8, 2010), the employer is accused of violating the disparate impact provision of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by rejecting or firing qualified individuals who have criminal records even where the criminal history has no bearing on the individual’s fitness or ability to perform the job. The putative class is defined as all Latino and African American persons who were denied employment or terminated based on their actual or presumed criminal background from January 30, 2007 until the date of judgment for the case.
Mr. Arroyo worked as a contract technical support employee for Accenture for 17 months. Due to his excellent performance, Mr. Arroyo was encouraged to apply for a permanent position with Accenture. In April 2007, Accenture offered Mr. Arroyo permanent employment subject to the results of a background check. The criminal background check revealed a then ten year old conviction for vehicular homicide stemming from a car accident which occurred while Mr. Arroyo was driving while intoxicated. Mr. Arroyo disclosed this conviction to the placement agency that secured his contractor position with Accenture. On April 17, 2007, Accenture not only withdrew its offer for the permanent position but also terminated him from his contractor position. Mr. Arroyo earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science after his conviction. He also served with distinction in the U.S. Navy during Operation Desert Storm.
The case is handled by Sarah Crawford and Audrey Wiggins along with Adam Klein,Samuel Miller, and Ossai Miazad of the law firm of Outten & Golden.
To read the complaint filed in this case, please click here.
