Download United States v. City of Chicago Probationary Police Officer Hiring

United States v. City of Chicago Probationary Police Officer Hiring Settlement On February 5, 2016, the United States of America (“United States”) filed a lawsuit against the City of Chicago (“Chicago”) in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois claiming that Chicago used a hiring practice that did not comply with Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The United States claimed that Chicago’s use of a ten‐year continuous United States residency requirement (“ten‐year residency requirement”) as part of its background check overly excluded people born outside the United States from being hired as probationary police officers (“PPOs”) with the Chicago Police Department. The United States claimed that this requirement was not shown to be job related and consistent with business necessity, as required by federal law. Chicago stopped using the ten‐year residency requirement in 2011, and began using a five‐year continuous United States residency requirement. To resolve this matter without the time and costs of litigation and to promote the purposes of Title VII, the United States and Chicago have entered into a “Stipulated Consent Judgment” settling the lawsuit. On March 2, 2016, the District Court provisionally approved this settlement. On April 21, 2016, the District Court provisionally approved minor revisions to the settlement terms. The Court will hold a fairness hearing on Tuesday, June 7, 2016, to decide whether the proposed settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate under Title VII. Anyone who wishes to object to the terms of the settlement must fill out a written objection form and return it to the United States no later than Friday, April 29, 2016. The objection form and additional information about the settlement and fairness hearing, including the terms of the settlement, who may be eligible for relief, and instructions for objecting to the settlement, are available at: www.CityofChicagoPPOsettlement.com If you have any questions, you may call the Employment Litigation Section of the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice at 1‐800‐556‐1950, Box # 4. If you call this number, please leave a message with your name, address, telephone number, and a time when you can be reached. You may also email your questions to [email protected]. Your call or email will be returned as soon as possible.