Contemporary Services Corporation (CSC), one of the largest event staffing companies in the United States, has agreed to overhaul its hiring practices under a settlement resolving claims that it illegally denied a job to a qualified California applicant based on his conviction history.

CSC, which staffs major events including the Super Bowl, presidential inaugurations, and papal visits, employs nearly 59,000 workers across the country and about 10,000 in California alone. The company’s reforms will bring its hiring policies into compliance with California’s Fair Chance Act (Gov’t Code § 12952) and are expected to impact tens of thousands of current and future workers nationwide.

The settlement stems from a complaint filed by a California resident referred to by the pseudonym James to protect his privacy. James interviewed successfully for an event staff position, received a conditional offer, and completed onboarding. He voluntarily disclosed a past conviction he received long ago during a bout of homelessness – information he was told would not affect his employment. After receiving his background check days later, CSC quietly changed his hiring status to “rejected,” without explanation, legal notice, or any opportunity to respond.

James claimed this conduct violated California’s Fair Chance Act In effect since 2018. The Fair Chance Act bars most employers from asking about conviction history until after a job offer is made. It also requires individualized assessments that consider the nature of the offense, time passed, and relevance to the job. Employers must provide written notice of any adverse employment decision and give applicants a meaningful chance to submit evidence of rehabilitation or mitigating circumstances. CSC failed to do any of this.

According to the Legal Aid at Work settlement announcement, the “case reflects a larger pattern of illegal hiring practices that disproportionately and systemically harm Black and Brown workers and justice-impacted communities. As the Legislature recognized in passing the Fair Chance Act, ‘[r]oughly seven million Californians, or nearly one in three adults, have an arrest or conviction record that can significantly undermine their efforts to obtain gainful employment.’ Nationally, formerly incarcerated people face unemployment at nearly five times the rate of the general public – levels higher than during the Great Depression.”

“This case is about dignity, fairness, and the right to be judged for your potential – not your past,” said Molly Lao, Staff Attorney at Legal Aid at Work.

As part of the settlement, CSC has agreed to comprehensive reforms designed to bring its California hiring practices into full compliance with the Fair Chance Act and related civil rights laws. These include eliminating the use of automated decision matrices, ending requests for applicants to self-disclose criminal history, and revising all background check policies to require individualized assessments and legally compliant notice procedures. CSC will provide updated policies to the California Civil Rights Department for review and will deliver detailed annual reports on hiring outcomes for applicants with conviction histories. The company will also implement two years of mandatory Fair Chance Act training for all California hiring personnel and provide verification and training materials to the California Civil Rights Department.

“These reforms are more than policy changes – they’re a path to opportunity for tens of thousands of workers,” said Lao. “This case has changed my life,” said James. “I’m glad that others who apply to CSC won’t have to go through what I did, and that we all can start building a future.”