Sheetz Sued Over Racial Discrimination in Its Hiring Practices

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has filed a lawsuit accusing Sheetz Inc. of racial discrimination because it performs background checks on prospective employees.

EEOC says Sheetz denies people employment at any of its stores based on their background checks.

This apparently qualifies as a racial discrimination case because EEOC says background checks disproportionately discriminate against blacks, Native Americans, and multiracial applicants. However, EEOC does not make any mention if Sheetz has the same practice for white applicants.

This is one of those cases where the reason for filing the lawsuit appears to be more racist than the racist behavior the accused is accused of practicing.

However, EEOC says its lawsuit “does not allege that Sheetz was motivated by race when making hiring decisions.”

“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,” EEOC Regional Attorney Debra M. Lawrence says in a statement announcing the lawsuit. “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 and Sheetz have already attempted to reach a settlement before this lawsuit was file but those talks broke apart without a deal.

This lawsuit was filed in the US District Court of the District of Maryland, Northern Division.

Sheetz operates more than 600 stores in 6 states. There are currently 2 Sheetz stores here in Schuylkill County.

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