Bed Bath & Beyond Ends Ban on Workers With Criminal Past
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Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. agreed to stop automatically rejecting job applicants with criminal records and to evaluate individual situations as New York’s attorney general expanded a crackdown on discrimination against ex-offenders.
Under New York law, employers are barred from disqualifying any prospective hire simply on the basis of a criminal history. Such blanket discrimination is illegal in several states and cities and may also violate federal civil rights law, according to the New York-based National Employment Law Project. A company can still look at the nature of a past crime and the responsibilities of a particular job in considering an applicant.