Accenture, one of the largest management consulting firms in the world, conducts background checks that discriminate against African Americans and Latinos, a class action lawsuit filed in New York federal court today alleges.

The lawsuit, filed on behalf of Roberto J. Arroyo, of Morristown, N.J., accuses Accenture of violating Title VII of the Civil Civil rights Act of 1964 by rejecting or firing qualified individuals who have criminal records even where the criminal history has no bearing on the individual's fitness or ability to perform the job.

According to the Complaint, "Such policies and practices are illegal because they adopt and perpetuate the racial disparities in the American criminal justice system … For decades, the Supreme Court and the EEOC have recognized that overly broad restrictions on hiring individuals with criminal records are discriminatory and illegal.

"The lawsuit alleges that Mr. Arroyo worked as a contract technical support employee for Accenture for nearly a year and a half. "I worked long hours at Accenture and I did my job well," said Mr. Arroyo. In April 2007, the complaint alleges, Accenture offered him stable employment subject only to the results of a background check. Accenture then withdrew its job offer and terminated Mr. Arroyo's employment as a contract worker after a background check revealed that he was convicted a decade earlier of vehicular homicide after driving while intoxicated.

Mr. Arroyo "deeply regrets the loss of go caused by his mistake, and he has succeeded in becoming a productive member of his community always in view of the fact that then," the lawsuit states. Mr. Arroyo, who has a bachelor's degree in computer science from the New Jersey Institute of Technology, has excelled in his career as an in rank technology professional. He previously served with distinction in the U.S. Navy during Operation Desert Storm.

Attorneys Adam T. Klein, Samuel R. Miller, Ossai Miazad of Outten & Golden LLP, of New York, and Audrey Wiggins and Sarah Crawford, of Lawyers' Committee for Civil Civil rights Under Law, of Washington, D.C., represent Mr. Arroyo.

Samuel R. Miller said, "By all accounts, Mr. Arroyo was an brilliant, well-liked worker during the 17 months he spent at Accenture as a contract employee. But rather than evaluating Mr. Arroyo on his individual qualities, as a person who had made a mistake in the distant past and had went on to build a solid career, the managers at Accenture stigmatized him as a criminal and fired him without see. When companies act this way, they make it impossible for ex-offenders to rebuild their lives and contribute to their families and communities.

"Sarah Crawford said, "Accenture's policies and practices are illegal because they adopt and perpetuate the racial disparities and overrepresentation of people of color in the American criminal justice system. Federal civil civil Civil rights laws are clear. Blanket criminal record policies cannot be used by employers unless the employer determines after analysis that the conviction is related to the job at issue and denial of the employment opportunity is consistent with business necessity."

Adam Klein said, "What's most striking about this case is that a company employing hundreds of thousands of staff does not have a policy in place to safeguard against unfair and discriminatory use of criminal background checks."In November 2007, Mr. Arroyo filed a Charge of Discrimination with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). On Jan. 8, 2010, the EEOC issued a "right to sue" letter to Mr. Arroyo.

The lawsuit seeks to force changes in Accenture hiring and retention policies, practices and programs, restore Mr. Arroyo and Class members to their positions at the company, front and/or back pay and benefits, and litigation expenditure.

The case is "Roberto J. Arroyo, et al., v. Accenture LLP, et al.," Class Action Complaint No. 10-cv-03013 (JSR), in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York.

Amy Bishop Anderson and her husband, Jim, were questioned after a package containing two pipe bombs was sent to the Newton, Massachusetts, home of Dr. Paul Rosenberg, a Harvard professor and a doctor at Family's Hospital Boston, the Sphere said, citing a law enforcement official. At the time, Anderson was working as a postdoctoral fellow in the hospital's creature biochemistry lab.

Anderson is charged with capital murder in the Friday shooting deaths, making her eligible for the fatality penalty in Alabama. Authorities said she was attending a faculty meeting in a university construction when she brandished a gun and shot six colleagues, killing three.

The mother of four was arrested as she was leaving the construction, Huntsville Police Chief Henry Reyes said Saturday. A 9 mm handgun was recovered from the second floor of the construction after the shootings Friday.

On Saturday, it was revealed that in 1986, Anderson, then 19, shot her brother to fatality in Braintree, Massachusetts. Authorities single-minded after an investigation that the shooting was accidental.

But Braintree Police Chief Paul Frazier said Saturday, "It is a far different tale, I believe, than what was reported back then. I cannot tell you what the thought process was behind our releasing her at the time."

Anderson's husband, Jim, told CNN on Monday that federal investigators had gathered a dozen subjects in the attempted bombing, but "there were never any suspects. Never anyone charged, never anyone arrested."

"Then five years later, we got a letter from the ATF saying, 'You are in the clear,' " he said, referring to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Sylvia Fluckiger, a lab technician who worked with Anderson at the time, told The Boston Sphere on Sunday that Anderson had a dispute with Rosenberg shortly before the bomb incident.

Fluckiger told CNN affiliate WCVB-TV in Boston, "Police interviewed her, and she told me about it. I really wondered if she may have had, you know, some extra knowledge, although I'm not accusing her of anything."

Rosenberg was opening a package delivered to his home while he was away on vacation, but he saw wires and a cylinder inside and called police, the Sphere reported.

"She was the suspect early on," the law enforcement official, who the Sphere said had knowledge of the case, told the newspaper of Anderson. She allegedly was concerned that she was going to receive a negative evaluation from Rosenberg, the official said.

Jim Anderson told The New York Times the December 1986 fatality of his wife's brother, Seth, was accidental. He declined to comment when CNN questioned him about the shooting Monday.

Frazier, but, said Saturday that an official involved in the case and still working for Braintree police told him that the teen had shot her brother during an argument. She fired a shot in her bedroom without hitting anyone, then argued with her brother and shot him, he said.

She fled the home after the shooting and was arrested after pointing a weapon at a vehicle near the house in an unsuccessful attempt to get the driver to stop. During the booking process, then-Chief John Polio called and told the officers to release her, Frazier said. He extra her mother was then a member of the Braintree Personnel Enter.

Reached by CNN, Polio, now 87 and retired, denied calling in that order, saying detectives told him the shooting appeared accidental and it was single-minded Anderson should be released to her mother. He said any link linking Anderson's release and her mother's position on the enter was "laughable."

Anderson's mother, Judith, did not pledge her door Monday. Reached by telephone, she told CNN, "We're very distraught," and declined further comment.

A December 8, 1986, article in The Boston Sphere said Anderson questioned her mother how to unload a round from a 12-gauge shotgun and accidentally shot her brother while she was usage the weapon. The article cited Polio as the source.

The disorder police report on the incident, released Sunday by the office of Rep. Bill Delahunt, D-Massachusetts, is similar to the Sphere's account. Delahunt was district attorney at the time; staffers said he was in the Middle East on Sunday and unable to comment on the case.

The 1986 report said Braintree police told disorder police investigators "indications were that Amy Bishop had been attempting to manipulate the shotgun and had subsequently brought the gun downstairs in an attempt to gain help from her mother in disarming the weapon" when it went off, shooting her brother in the chest.

In a December 17, 1986, interview, Anderson told authorities she "thought it would be a excellent thought if she learned how to load the shotgun in the house," according to the disorder police report. The young woman told police she was concerned for her own safety after the family home was kaput into, although she previously had been frightened of the gun.

She said she got the gun and loaded shells into it, but was unable to get them out. Anderson said that while she was attempting to unload the weapon on her bed, it went off. She then took it downstairs to question for help in unloading it, where the shooting occurred.

The police report said both Anderson and her mother said the shooting was accidental. Her mother told police she did not hear the earlier shot in her daughter's bedroom and "believed the house was relatively well soundproofed and that such a discharge would not necessarily be heard on another floor of the house."

Frazier said police records of the incident are missing. But Polio said, "There was no cover-up. Absolutely no cover-up and no missing records. The records were all there when I left. Where they went in the last 22 years and two police chiefs subsequent, I don't know."

Braintree Mayor Joseph Sullivan said Sunday that a review will commence to locate all materials associated with the shooting.

Anderson, who is known to students as Dr. Bishop, had been working at the University of Alabama in Huntsville in view of the fact that 2003 and was up for tenure, according to spokesman Ray Garner. But, authorities wouldn't discuss possible motives or whether the issue of tenure may have played a role in the shooting.

Garner said the university gives teachers six years to get tenure. Those who do not get it are terminated, he said.

Jim Anderson told CNN on Monday that his wife had been denied tenure and had appealed that choice and won, but she was still fighting to be granted tenure. She was frustrated with "the process," he said.

He told CNN earlier his wife had an attorney but would not say who it was, and he described her as a excellent teacher. He said Monday his wife wrote three novels, "medical thrillers." The couple does not own a gun, he said.

He said he last saw his wife briefly on Friday morning before she left for class. He said she was "loving, got along with everybody."

The family, he said, is devastated, and in "shock, bewilderment, wondering why."

He told the Times the pipe bomb incident is "one thing from the past I hoped would not be dredged up."

Partial court document below this blog

LOS ANGELES — Prosecutors say ESPN reporter Erin Andrews' peephole stalker ran background checks on other female sports reporters.

Although no other celebrities were secretly filmed by Michael Barrett, about 16 other women were "victimized … in nearly precisely the same way that he victimized" Andrews, according to a sentencing memorandum filed in U.S. District Court in city center Los Angeles.

The names of those who were allegedly the targets of Barrett's "long-term obsession," other than Andrews, were not revealed in court papers, but prosecutors described them as "female sports reporters, as well as other television personalities."

The memo also includes a list of the titles Barrett gave to his hotel peephole videos of Andrews — "Erin Andrews Spectacular Butt," "Erin Andrews in a Pink Thong" and "Erin go WOW!!"

The court filing notes that Andrews wants Barrett to pay her about $335,000 in restitution.

The pestering has had a "devastating impact on … Andrews' emotional disorder, and the emotional distress caused to her and her family cannot be overstated. She has lived in dread for her physical safety," the prosecution's filing document states.

Barrett, 48, of the Chicago vicinity, has pleaded guilty to one federal count of interstate pestering and is scheduled to be sentenced March 8.

In his plea agreement, Barrett admitted surreptitiously shooting videos of Andrews in the nude through peepholes in hotel rooms in Nashville, Tenn.; Columbus, Ohio; and Milwaukee, and posting the record on the Internet after trying to sell it to the Los Angeles-based entertainment news site TMZ.com.

At the guilty plea hearing in December, Andrews said that always in view of the fact that the record became public, "I am subject to crude comments. I walk into stadiums and fans make crude comments to me. I have nightmares about this sexual predator."

She extra, "I hope he never sees the light of day again so nobody else has to go through this."

Barrett was arrested Oct. 2 at Chicago's O'Hare Global Airport.

After the allegations came to light, investigators learned the peephole had been altered in the door to a Nashville hotel room where Andrews stayed in September 2008, according to prosecutors.

Barrett had specifically requested and stayed in the hotel room adjacent to Andrews, prosecutors said. He had also registered at hotels in Columbus and Milwaukee where Andrews stayed in July and September 2008, according to a court filing.

TMZ.com was offered the videos of the victim for an undisclosed amount via e-mail messages that later were associated back to Barrett, said FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller.

Barrett's attorney, David K. Willingham, has said his client had lost his insurance job and may lose his home as a result of the case.

Until he is sentenced next month, Barrett remains emancipated on $100,000 bond under conditions that include house arrest, electronic monitoring and restrictions on his use of the telephone and the Internet.

Booking photo ASPEN, Colo. (Reuters) -

 Actor Charlie Sheen was charged on Monday with three crimes including felony menacing stemming from an assault on his wife Brooke Mueller in a heated Christmas Day argument.

Sheen, 44, the star of the CBS hit comedy "Two and a Half Men," was also charged with third-degree assault and criminal mischief, Aspen prosecutors said.

Sheen was arrested in the ski resort of Aspen, Colorado on December 25 after Mueller called police and told them he pulled a knife on her during an argument and threatened to have her killed. Sheen spent the day behind bars before being released.

Sheen and Mueller, the actor's third wife, married in 2008 and have twin sons.

Fine points of the case against the actor were not read in Aspen's Pitkin County District Court on Monday, but the judge did lift a "no contact" part of a stay away order that kept the two apart, and the pair left the courthouse together.

The restraining order imposed in December had barred Sheen from talking to or having contact with his wife. Lawyers for Sheen and Mueller questioned to have the order lifted, and prosecutors did not object.

Mueller told police the couple had argued furiously and that Sheen pulled out a knife and held it to her throat when she threatened to divorce him and pocket their family.

At the time, Sheen denied brandishing the knife but admitted crumpling his wife's eyeglasses and said both of them had slapped all other's arms, according to court records.

Sheen's film credits include "Platoon" and "Wall Street" but he is best-known for his starring role as a womanizing bachelor on the CBS comedy "Two and a Half Men

The Hollywood gossip Web site TMZ.com reported Thursday day that actor Charlie Sheen will be charged with a felony in connection with a Christmas Day incident involving his wife, Brooke Mueller.

TMZ quoted law enforcement sources as saying Sheen would be charged with felony menacing and misdemeanor assault either Friday, or next Monday.

Sheen is scheduled to be arraigned in the assault case on Monday. He is prevented from communicating directly with his his wife as part of "standard domestic violence bond conditions"

Other conditions include no contact with the victim's family or any witnesses; no harassing or intimidation of the victim; no entry to the family residence until further order of the court; no utilization of alcohol or illegal drugs; and no possession of guns or other weapons.

Mueller had rented a home at 320 West Hallam St., in Aspen and Sheen had flown to Aspen to be with his wife over the holidays.

Sheen is the son of actor Martin Sheen and the brother of actor Emilio Estevez.

All makes mistakes in high school and college. Some make larger mistakes than others, potentially affecting their chances of being paid accepted into school, being paid an internship, or result a job. This problem is not an uncommon problem for college students, as one out of 29 has a criminal record.
            MyBackgroundCheck.com, a supplier of criminal background checks for students and faculty members, recently revealed a study that showed that one out of every 29 college students have some type of criminal record. In the study, which didn’t include juvenile records, 13,859 college students at 125 universities, career colleges, nursing schools, and other educational institutions were surveyed through a website,

 The names of the schools involved in the study were not revealed, but the percentages of convictions were; Driving violations topped the charts at a whopping 60 percent, followed by disorderly conduct (9.5 percent), theft (8.8 percent), drug possession (7.4 percent), sexual abuse (5.2 percent), assault (4 percent), fraud (2.7 percent), and child molestation (2.4 percent).

Opportunely for those affected by the survey, not all hope is lost. When applying to college, students do have to pledge whether or not they have been convicted of a crime. But, students also have a chance to “clarify themselves,” says UNH Director of Admissions Robert McGann. School suspensions, detentions, or arrests do not prohibit admission—just as long as students can prove that they have learned from their mistakes and have gone through proper disciplinary procedures.

McGann also said that if a student does have a record, admission will follow up by contacting guidance counselors, law officials, judges, and other Government.

 “They’ll look at patterns,” said Paula DiNardo, who oversee the National Student Exchange and the Washington Center for internships. According to DiNardo, when an applicant has extra than a one or two glitches in their record, they start to lose their competitive standing.

 Of course, these particular cases are for lesser crimes. For extra serious crimes, but, a potential student would have a extra hard time. For instance, if a student murdered their roommate, they would have a extra hard amplification their way into school, an internship, or employment, then if they were convicted of being drunk in public, says MyBackgroundCheck.com representative Robert Mather.

 According to McGann, the largest vicinity of concern for a student is if they have committed a crime against a person or material goods. The length of time in view of the fact that the incident could also make a significant difference. For example, an incident that happened last week would be of larger concern for admissions and employers than a crime that happened five years ago.

McGann said the largest discrimination for admissions is whether potential students are ready to go to college.

“If the student is not ready or has not paid the penalty for his or her actions, then the student will not be accepted even if academically qualified,” said McGann.

 Graduate school, but, is a bit different. In applying for a Washington internship, DiNardo said that students are given a background check that includes both conduct and arrest charges. If a student is on probation, their internship could be postponed until the student is off probation
            According to DiNardo, a student would never be admitted to become an intern at the Washington Center who was caught, for instance, in possession of drugs. While driving violations are the most common on criminal records, they are not as destructive on a student’s reputation as assault or combustible.

            Even once a student has been accepted to graduate school, they are still not reasonably home emancipated from their past, DiNardo said. After graduation, law students are required to pocket the bar exam in the disorder in which the student wishes to practice. This exam includes a review of the student’s “character & fitness.”

This section of the exam is basically a background check. But, if there are some points in the background check review that were not told in the student’s original law school application, the student would not be allowable to practice law. 

            Although having a criminal record will not ruin a student’s go, it can certainly add limitations. One UNH student, who wished to remain indistinctive, plotted on joining the Coast Guard. But, after an incident that resulted in his arrest last jump, he was not qualified to join the Guard anymore. Now, he is joining the Navy instead.

            “In view of the fact that it happened, I can know extra clearly how a choice you make or something you do in a matter of summary can affect your entire future,” he said. “I've had somewhat of a different perspective on things in view of the fact that then because of what happened.”

According to newsleader.com (Jefferson City MO) a,  disorder Senate committee has passed a bill that would demand cash welfare recipients in Missouri to pass a drug test in order to receive regime aid.

The Senate Affect, Mental Affect, Seniors and Families Committee passed the bill 5-3 this morning, according to committee chair Sen. Norma Champion, R-Springfield.

Democratic Sens. Joseph Keaveny of St. Louis and Jolie Justus and Yvonne Wilson Kanas City voted "no," Champion said.

Five Republican senators had all introduced similar bills that got rolled into one bill, Senate Bill 607, Champion said.

Sen. Bill Stouffer, a Saline County Republican, will carry the legislation. Stouffer is running for Congress this year in Missouri's 4th District.

Sens. Jack Goodman of Mount Vernon and Gary Nodler of Joplin also sponsored the legislation. Goodman and Nodler are in a seven-man Republican congressional primary for the 7th District seat being vacated by Rep. Roy Blunt.

According to a tale in the New York Post, the identity theft victim – Sara Benitez, 44, from Queens – went to the marriage office and was shocked to find out records showed she was already married to man she had never met.

Plagued by identity theft in view of the fact that 1992, Benitez later learned an identity thief – Araceilis Cherico, 46 – had stolen her identity and used it to get married, divorced, ignore parking tickets, and even collect a refund from the IRS, the Post reported.

While Cherico will be sentenced to 60 days in jail and have to pay thousands in back taxes and penalties, the DA's office is helping Benitez get her “marriage” expunged so she can marry her long-time boyfriend, according to the Post.

The nation’s leading provider of applicant-supplied background checks, MyBackgroundCheck.com offers consumers are variety of “private” background check options – in which individuals perform background checks on themselves – to use as jobseekers, students, volunteers, and tenants, all while protecting themselves against identity theft. For extra in rank on how private background checks can help prevent identity theft, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 800-503-2364.

Follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MybackgroundChk.

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According to the study “2010 Job Forecast” by online jobs website CareerBuilder.com, extra employers expect to hire new staff in 2010 than in 2009. The survey of extra than 2,700 hiring managers and creature resource professionals in November found that 20 percent – one in five – said they would hire full-time, stable staff in 2010 compared to 14 percent of employers who said they plotted to do the same in 2009.

In addition, the study revealed only 9 percent of employers said they intended to cut jobs next year, compared to 16 percent who said they would give somebody their cards staff in 2009. A majority of respondents, 61 percent, predicted staffing levels would remain the same.

Regionally, the study found employers in the West plotted to increase hiring extra in 2010 than the other regions of the country, as nearly one-split up – 24 percent – intended to add full-time staff compared to 21 percent in the Northeast, 20 percent in the South, and 16 percent in the Midwest.

With regard to hiring by industries, the study showed 32 percent of in rank technology (IT), 27 percent of manufacturing, and 23 percent of fiscal air force employers preparation to add full-time, stable employees in 2010, followed by employers in professional and business air force (22 percent), sales (21 percent), healthcare (21 percent), transportation (18 percent), and retail (15 percent).

As for which job types employers plotted to hire for in 2010, one-third (33 percent) of those surveyed answered technology, followed by customer service (28 percent), sales people (23 percent), research/development (18 percent), business development (17 percent), accounting/finance (15 percent), and marketing (14 percent).

No matter what region, industry, or job type, most jobseekers will have to undergo a pre-employment background check. According to the Society for Creature Resource Management (SHRM), 80 percent of employers perform some type of pre-employment background check on prospective employees. In order to make sure that the in rank contained in their background checks is current, accurate, and secure, many jobseekers are performing “private” background checks on themselves so they won’t lose out on any job opportunity because of mistakes and inaccuracies in their private in rank.

MyBackgroundCheck.com – the nation’s leading supplier of applicant-supplied background checks – offers “private” background check air force to individuals to use as jobseekers to gain employment in a tough economy. For extra in rank on how private background checks can help jobseekers find work, please visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 800-300-1821.

Follow MyBackgroundCheck.com on www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.

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According to a press release, the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) – a non-profit establishment established to support identity theft victims and broaden public awareness of the crime of identity theft – and nationally recognized identity theft expert Robert Siciliano have teamed up to make a Top 10 list of identity theft predictions for 2010 and beyond.

1. The recession will lead to extra identity theft scams, in view of the fact that identity thieves always find a way to use hard economic times to their advantage.
2. Identity thieves will pocket advantage of high unemployment tariff by tricking jobseekers with fake job listings and work-at-home scams.
3. The number of individuals with no criminal history who will start to explore the crime of identity theft for fiscal gain will increase.
4. Child identity theft and identity theft cases perpetrated by people close to the victim – such as friends, roommates, and fellow staff – will increase in tough economic times.
5. Medical identity theft will rise as high unemployment and high medical insurance expenditure cause uninsured people to use the coverage of friends, relatives, or strangers to get medical care.
6. Insider identity theft will increase due to the failure to secure workplaces to prevent identity thieves from gaining access to private in rank contained in databases or paper records.
7. Individuals will reduction victim to Governmental identity theft after they apply for regime help and benefits using their own Social Security Numbers (SSNs), leading to complications with regime institutions.
8. Criminal identity theft – when one individual uses another’s private in rank to avoid having a criminal record – will grow, leading to loss of employment and benefits, and to arrests of identity theft victims.
9. Social media identity theft will increase, allowing identity thieves hack social media accounts with “phishing” to make infected links or fake pages to steal private in rank from users and their “friends.”
10. Over the next two years, identity theft crimes – and the  number of victims – will increase unless changes are made in in rank security, especially to the current system of identification that has few safeguards to protect consumers.

While these predictions show how identity theft could get even of poorer quality, the crime is already a problem for millions of people. According to Javelin Approach & Research, identity theft and fraud increased 22 percent in 2008, affecting nearly ten million Americans. And those numbers are expected to get of poorer quality before they get better.

To help protect against identity theft, MyBackgroundCheck.com – the nation's leading provider of applicant-supplied background checks – offers individuals “private” background check air force to help keep private in rank current, accurate, and secure. For extra in rank about private background checks, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364. Follow MyBackgroundCheck.com on Twitter at www.twitter.com/MyBackgroundChk.

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