Sixth Circuit Affirms Summary Judgment Against EEOC In Credit Check Suit

In Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ("EEOC") v. Kaplan Higher Education Corp., No. 13-3408 (6th Cir. Apr. 9, 2014), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed the award of summary judgment against the EEOC in its suit alleging that Kaplan's use of credit checks disparately impacted African-American applicants in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Following on the heels of a similar ruling in EEOC v. Freeman, 961 F. Supp. 2d 783 (D. Md. 2013), the Kaplan decision represents yet another failure by the EEOC to muster the expert testimony necessary to meet its evidentiary burden in a disparate impact case, and still another setback for an...