ENACTED LEGISLATION
TENNESSEE: Tennessee amends the Tennessee Lawful Employment Act 
Summary: Tennessee amended the Tennessee Lawful Employment Act to make various changes, including requiring a private employer with 50 or more employees to enroll in the E-Verify program beginning Jan. 1, 2017.
Impact(s): Tennessee employers
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VERMONT: Vermont enacts “Ban the Box” law
Summary: Gov. Peter Shumlin has signed a bill to remove questions about criminal records from the very first part of job applications in Vermont. The bill (H.261) prohibits employers from asking questions about prior criminal convictions on an initial job application. Employers will still be allowed to ask questions in later stages of the hiring process and the law provides exemptions for certain positions where a criminal conviction would automatically disqualify an applicant due to state or federal law.
Impact(s): Vermont employers
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COURT OPINIONS
U.S. DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA: Court finds that plaintiff sufficiently stated a claim and denies defendant’s motion to dismiss in FCRA class-action lawsuit
Summary: A federal district court in Minnesota denied the defendant’s motion to dismiss in an FCRA class-action lawsuit agreeing that the plaintiff sufficiently pleaded a violation of the FCRA based on extraneous information in the defendant’s disclosure and sufficiently alleged a knowing violation of the FCRA.
Impact(s): FCRA compliance – for general legal review
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U.S. DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MINNESOTA: Court grants motion to dismiss FCRA class action
Summary: A federal judge granted Target’s motion to dismiss a class-action suit alleging that Target violated the FCRA for including extraneous information in an employee background check disclosure. The court concluded that the alleged violation was not willful. Citing the dearth of guidance from the federal courts of appeal and the FTC, as well as the less-than-clear text of the FCRA’s stand-alone disclosure requirement, the court concluded, as a matter of law, that Target did not willfully fail to comply with the FCRA. The court granted Target’s motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
Impact(s): FCRA compliance – for general legal review
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OTHER UPDATES
FEDERAL: The White House proposed new regulations to delay inquiry about an applicant’s criminal history in federal hiring
Summary: The White House proposed that the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) revise its regulations to ban a hiring agency from making specific inquiries concerning an applicant’s background of the sort asked on the OF-306’s “Background Information” section or other forms used to conduct suitability for federal employment unless the hiring agency has made a conditional offer of employment to the applicant.
Impact(s): Federal employers
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