California lawsuit says Ralphs broke the law by asking job-seekers about their criminal histories

abcnews.go.com:

California has sued the Ralphs supermarket chain, alleging it violated state law by asking job-seekers whether they had criminal records and illegally rejecting hundreds of applicants

LOS ANGELES — California sued the Ralphs supermarket chain on Thursday, alleging that it violated state law by asking job-seekers whether they had criminal records and illegally rejecting hundreds of applicants.

The California Civil Rights Department contends that Ralphs Grocery Co. “has ignored and continues to ignore” the Fair Chance Act “by screening out otherwise qualified applicants on the basis of criminal histories that do not have any adverse relationship with the duties of the job for which they were applying,” according to a departmental press statement.

The law, which took effect in 2018, was designed to reduce the chance of ex-convicts reoffending by giving them opportunities to earn a living.

In general, employers with five or more workers can't ask applicants about their criminal histories before making job offers, and must follow specific procedures for rejecting them. The law says employers can't rescind a job offer if the applicant's conviction, which could be for a misdemeanor, wouldn't directly affect job responsibilities.

Instead, Ralphs job-seekers were given what the suit calls a “confusing and misleading” application form that included questions seeking disclosure of their criminal histories. Most candidates who had their job offers revoked weren't given any way to contact Ralphs to challenge the decision as the law requires, the statement said.

«The instructions provide detailed, superfluous instructions concerning how to report convictions, after telling applicants that they do not need to answer the question.