Ralphs has illegally denied job opportunities to hundreds of people with criminal histories, California’s Civil Rights Department claims in a lawsuit.
The civil rights suit, initiated in Los Angeles County Superior Court, is the first lawsuit under California’s Fair Chance Act.
It was implemented in 2018 to mitigate hiring barriers and combat discrimination against formerly incarcerated individuals.
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The lawsuit alleges Ralphs violated the Fair Chance Act by including questions about applicants’ conviction histories on its job application.
The grocery chain failed to individually assess whether these histories justified denying employment, contrary to the law’s standards.
The lawsuit claims Ralphs unjustly refused employment to numerous applicants, despite their conviction histories not warranting such denials.
The alleged violations continue, according to the lawsuit.
The Civil Rights Department seeks monetary damages for individuals denied jobs or those who lost employment due to Ralphs’ screening practices.
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The department is also looking for a court order to force Ralphs to align with the Fair Chance Act.
Policies “don’t make sense”
Kevin Kish, the director of the Civil Rights Department, said: “When roughly 70 million Americans have some sort of record, policies like those employed by Ralphs aren’t just discriminatory and against California law, they don’t make sense.
“We can’t expect people to magically gain the economic and housing stability needed to reintegrate into their communities and stay out of the criminal legal system without a fair chance at steady employment.”
Under the Fair Chance Act, employers with five or more employees are prohibited from inquiring about an applicant’s criminal history before making a conditional job offer.
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The law outlines specific procedures for considering an applicant’s criminal history post a job offer.
It allows employers to reject applicants solely based on convictions directly related to job responsibilities.
Furthermore, the law mandates companies to provide notice of decisions to deny applicants positions based on conviction histories, enabling applicants to respond to these preliminary decisions.
The Civil Rights Department alleges that Ralphs failed to adhere to these requirements.
The agency argues that over 75 percent of job applicants were not being provided with a means to contest decisions to withdraw job offers, as mandated by the Fair Chance Act.
The parent company of Ralphs, Kroger, represented by spokesperson Salvador Ramirez, did not respond to requests for comment.
