Big Win for Employers- EEOC v. Kaplan Higher Education Corp
A federal appeals court upheld the dismissal of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s lawsuit against Kaplan Higher Education Corporation. The lawsuit between the EEOC and Kaplan has been lengthy and drawn out. In December 2010, the EEOC sued Kaplan in federal district court in Ohio, claiming that Kaplan’s use of pre-employment credit checks was in violation of Title VII, and had a disparate impact on protected class members. The EEOC alleged that Kaplan’s use of credit checks caused it to screen out more African-American applicants than white applicants. In November 2012, Kaplan and the EEOC both filed separate motions for judgment before trial. Kaplan’s motions argued that the EEOC had failed to identify a particular employment practice, that their expert opinion was inadmissible, and that Kaplan’s use of credit history information was job related and consistent with business necessity. The EEOC’s motion argued that the court should reject Kaplan’s defense that its u...