Texas Wins Fight Over Obama-Era Criminal Record Check Policy (1)

The EEOC guidance that discouraged employers from blanket bans on hiring workers with criminal records will not be binding in Texas, a federal appeals court ruled.

Although the state of Texas prevailed, many employers have already moved toward more comprehensive views of hiring workers with criminal records, employment attorneys say, but the ruling could have wider effects on the power of federal agencies’ interpretations of laws.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Aug. 6 upheld an order blocking enforcement of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s guidance against Texas. The three-judge panel found that the agency overstepped ...