Employment For long-unemployed, hiring bias rears its head Michigan, other states considering legislation to prohibit discrimination

By Stephen Singer Associated Press HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Few job seekers who fail to get an interview know the reason, but Michelle Chesney-Offutt said a recruiter told her why she lost the chance to pitch for an information technology position. The 54-year-old, who had been laid off from her IT job in Illinois, said the recruiter who responded to her online resume two years ago liked her qualifications and was set to schedule an interview. But he backed away, she said, when he learned she had been out of work for 13 months. The employer he represented would not consider applicants who were unemployed for more than six months, she said. "What they don't consider is that these are not normal times," said Chesney-Offutt, who was unemployed for nearly three years before landing a job. As high unemployment persists more than four years after the start of the Great Recession -- and nearly three years after it was officially declared over -- many who have struggled for years without work say they face discrimination. Nearly 13 million Americans, or 8.3 percent, were unemployed in February, the U.S. Department of Labor says. As of January, California, Connecticut Florida, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Tennessee were considering legislation to prohibit employers from discriminating against the unemployed in help-wanted ads or in direct hiring or in screenings by employment agencies, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Employers typically would face fines if found violating the law. The Oregon House, for example, voted last month to fine employers $1,000 if they post a job ad telling unemployed workers to not apply. Connecticut lawmakers are proposing legislation that would ban discriminatory job ads, but may back off from a more far-reaching provision that would permit unemployed job seekers who claim discrimination to file a complaint with the state's human rights commission or sue in court. The largest business group in the state, the Connecticut Business & Industry Association, sees a ban on discriminatory job ads as reasonable, but lobbyist Kia Murrell said businesses will fight efforts to give workers the right to sue over claims of discrimination. "You as the employer will be shaking in fear of a claim of unemployment discrimination," she said. The state's human rights commission told lawmakers that substantiating bias in hiring would be difficult and could require its staff to be nearly doubled if just a small fraction of Connecticut's 150,000 unemployed were to file a discrimination claim. State Sen. Edith Prague and Rep. Bruce Zalaski, who head the legislature's Labor and Public Employees Committee, said they may drop the provision allowing claims of discrimination. "It's not our intent that everyone can be sued," Zalaski said. Published: Mon, Mar 26, 2012