Sheetz violated federal law by denying employment to a class of job applicants because of their race, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) charged in a lawsuit filed today.
According to the lawsuit filed against Sheetz Inc., Sheetz Distribution Services LLC and CLI Transport LP, Sheetz has maintained a longstanding practice of screening all job applicants for records of criminal conviction and then denying them employment based on those records.
The EEOC charges that Sheetz’s hiring practices disproportionately screened out Black, Native American/Alaska Native and multiracial applicants. Sheetz’s companywide hiring practices violated provisions of Title VII that prohibit disparate impact discrimination, according to the EEOC.
The lawsuit does not allege that Sheetz was motivated by race when making hiring decisions.
“Sheetz does not tolerate discrimination of any kind,” Nick Ruffner, public relations manager for Sheetz, told CSP. “Diversity and inclusion are essential parts of who we are. We take these allegations seriously. We have attempted to work with the EEOC for nearly eight years to find common ground and resolve this dispute. We will address the claims in court when the time comes.”
The alleged conduct violates Title VII, which prohibits facially neutral employment practices that cause a discriminatory impact because of race when those practices are not job-related and consistent with business necessity or where alternative practices with less discriminatory impact are available.
“Federal law mandates that employment practices causing a disparate impact because of race or other protected classifications must be shown by the employer to be necessary to ensure the safe and efficient performance of the particular jobs at issue,” said EEOC Regional Attorney Debra M. Lawrence. “Even when such necessity is proven, the practice remains unlawful if there is an alternative practice available that is comparably effective in achieving the employer’s goals but causes less discriminatory effect.”
The EEOC filed suit in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, Northern Division after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process, it said.
“This highlights the significance of the observance of April as Second Chance Month, underscoring our nation's commitment to reintegrating individuals with criminal records into society by ensuring they have fair access to employment and other essential services,” said Jamie R. Williamson, district office director for EEOC Philadelphia. “To that end, the EEOC is dedicated to making sure that individuals with criminal records are not unlawfully excluded from employment opportunities because of race.”
- Sheetz is No. 13 on CSP’s 2024 Top 40 Update to the 2023 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count. Watch for the full 2024 Top 202 ranking in the June issue of CSP magazine and in CSP Daily News.
Altoona, Pennsylvania-based Sheetz operates more than 720 stores in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio and Maryland.
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