Massachusetts AG Maura Healey Fines Companies For Asking Job Applicants About Criminal Histories

Two Massachusetts companies – Brooks Brothers and DesignWerkes – have been fined $5,000 each and required to remove from their job applications questions about applicants’ criminal histories.

Attorney General Maura Healey’s office also sent warnings to 17 other companies requiring them to remove similar questions from their job applications.

In 2010, Massachusetts passed a “ban the box” law, which prohibits an initial job application from asking applicants about their criminal records. (There are exceptions for jobs where federal or state law disqualifies someone from the job due to their criminal history.)

Certain questions cannot be asked at any point during the job application process – for example, about criminal cases that did not end in a conviction or about misdemeanor cases that are more than three years old.

The goal of the law was to help people reentering society after a criminal conviction find work.

Healey said her office identified 19 companies that were still asking about applicants’ criminal histories on initial job applications – questions like whether they had ever been convicted of violating the law, whether they had ever been convicted of a felony or misdemeanor other than a minor traffic violation, and whether they had ever been convicted of a felony.

At Brooks Brothers, a clothing designer with 11 locations in Massachusetts, and DesignWerkes, a product design and manufacturing company in Amesbury, Healey’s investigation identified actual harm to job applicants from the policy. Both companies agreed to pay $5,000 to the state and come into compliance with the law.

The other companies were sent warning letters. The companies informed Healey’s office that they will remove the questions from their job applications.

“Too many people who have paid their debt to society still face barriers to even landing an interview,” Healey said in a statement. “These actions are an effort to give all job applicants a fair chance.”

The Boston Bar Association said in a statement that it supports Healey’s enforcement efforts. “We agree that people shouldn’t continue to suffer adverse employment consequences long after they have paid their debt to society,” said Michael Avitzur, a spokesman for the Boston Bar Association, in a statement.

The businesses that received warning letters are: The Abbey, Changsho, Sav-Mor Spirits, Passage to India, Tags Ace Hardware and Porter Square Wine Spirits, all in Cambridge; Danvers Fresh Market; Dellaria Salons and Yogibo in Braintree; iFixYouri and Marimekko in Boston; Le Creuset and Snappy Kitchen in Somerville; Party Favors and a UPS Store franchise in Brookline; Roots Corporation; and ProActive Business Solutions, a California-based company that does business in Massachusetts.