Community Legal Services is part of the plaintiff's legal team on the Census Worker Class Action case.   If you would like to join the case against the Census, or submit your story to the plaintiff's team, please follow this link: Census Worker Class Action Questionnaire.

The following is an introduction to the case taken from the official website of the Census Worker Class Action:

The work conducted by Census forms a cornerstone of our democracy, and it is imperative that Census carry out its mission accurately and in a manner that is fair and free of discrimination for all individuals and communities. That imperative must apply consistently not only to the counting work at the core of Census’ mission, but also to the way in which Census hires its workforce. If this hiring were done appropriately, Census would identify the most qualified workers and screen out those who pose a legitimate risk to public safety and the integrity of the census. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

All applicants for the 2010 Census with an arrest record for any offense at any point in their lives – no matter how trivial or disconnected from the requirements of the job – face an arbitrary barrier to employment. Census requires that within 30 days these particular applicants must produce the “official” court records of the disposition of their arrests to remain eligible for employment. Because of the difficulty, and often impossibility, of obtaining such proof, many people who have never been prosecuted or convicted of a crime are deterred or excluded outright from working for Census. Census’ screening procedure also results in the exclusion of many people with old and minor convictions for non-criminal offenses, misdemeanors, and other crimes that do not involve violence or dishonesty, which are irrelevant according to Census’ own policy for work in the field or at a desk job.

Because the arrest and conviction rates of African Americans, Latinos, and Native Americans far exceed those of whites nationwide, Census’ use of an arbitrary pre-employment screen has the result of discriminating on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, and national origin. By importing the discriminatory bias of the criminal justice system into its hiring practice, Census is thereby violating Title VII of the Civil Rights Act.

The Plaintiffs in this case -- all Census applicants -- are deeply committed to Census’ goal of reaching communities at risk of being undercounted, particularly low-income people of color and immigrants. They seek simple changes to Census' hiring process which will not only reduce its discriminatory practices, but will promote the public interest by expanding Census' hiring base in historically under-counted communities, thereby achieving the Constitutional goal of counting all who live in the United States.
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To learn more about the case, please visit www.censusdiscriminationlawsuit.com.