Costco Wins Bid to Annul Discrimination Finding
New York Law Journal, June 4, 2015
Costco Wins Bid to Annul Discrimination Finding
New York State’s Division of Human Rights erred when it sanctioned big-box retailer Costco for discriminating against job applicants with criminal records, the Appellate Division, First Department, ruled Tuesday. “The evidence did not show that [Costco’s] online employment application system automatically disqualified applicants with a prior criminal conviction,” the unanimous panel said in granting Costco’s Article 78 petition to annul a finding it had violated Executive Law §296 (15) and Article 23-A of the Corrections Law. The laws prohibit employment discrimination against New Yorkers with a record of criminal convictions, unless “there is a direct relationship between past convictions and the job, or hiring such a person would involve an unreasonable risk to property or to the safety of others,” according to a New York City Bar Association advisory memo.
