Pennsylvania employers are limited in how they can use a job applicant’s criminal history in employment decisions, regardless of how they learned of that history, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled this week in Phath v. Central Transport LLC.
Background
The case arose when Rodney Phath applied for a trucking job with Central Transport. Phath, who held a commercial driver’s license, had relevant experience, and was permitted to access secure ports, disclosed to Central Transport that he had been convicted of armed robbery fifteen years prior. Central Transport declined to hire him because of the conviction.
Phath alleged that Central Transport violated Pennsylvania’s Criminal History Record Information Act (“CHRIA”), a law that limits how employers may use a job applicant’s criminal history. Under CHRIA, employers may only use information from an applicant’s criminal history record information file to determine whether to hire the applicant where a conviction relates to the applicant’s suitability for a particular job.
In its motion to dismiss, Central Transport argued that CHRIA did not apply when an employer learns of a conviction from the applicant, rather than from a background check or from a state agency. The trial court agreed with the prospective employer’s argument based on the text of the law, which provides that it applies when “an employer is in receipt of information which is part of an employment applicant’s criminal history record information file,” and dismissed Phath’s claim.
The Court’s Ruling
The Third Circuit reversed the dismissal and remanded the case for further proceedings, ruling that the CHRIA’s restrictions on employers applies regardless of how the employer learned of an applicant’s criminal history. The court reasoned that a felony conviction would be included in an applicant’s criminal history file. As such, the court wrote, information regarding a felony conviction is information which is part of an applicant’s criminal history record information file. Because the law applies when an employer receives “information” that is part of that file, and not just when the employer receives the file itself, the court ruled that the CHRIA’s restrictions in the hiring process apply regardless of whether an employer learns of that history directly from the applicant, or by obtaining a criminal history report.
The court clarified that its ruling does not forbid employers from asking applicants about convictions, nor does it require employers to hire applicants with convictions. The ruling merely extends CHIRA’s limitations to prospective employers who learn of an applicant’s conviction from the applicant themselves.
Insight for Employers
In Pennsylvania, the legal limits on how an employer may consider an applicant’s criminal conviction apply regardless of how the employer learns of that information, whether through a formal background check or voluntary disclosure by the applicant. While employers remain free to make hiring decisions based on all relevant information, the Third Circuit’s decision in Phath v. Central Transport LLC makes clear that employers must apply a single, consistent standard under CHRIA, demonstrating that any reliance on a conviction is directly related to the applicant’s suitability for the position.
Article by Emily Mahler and Alex Weidenhof.
