Employer discriminated by not hiring job applicant based on conviction record

Wisconsin prohibits discrimination in employment decisions based on criminal convictions. One defense to such claims is that the circumstances of the crime the applicant or employee was convicted of are "substantially related" to the job duties. The Wisconsin Court of Appeals recently considered the substantial-relationship test when the conviction was for domestic violence crimes and the job was a lighting application specialist. It ruled in the applicant's favor, finding the employer—which declined to hire him based on the criminal convictions—hadn’t met its burden of establishing the defense.

What Wisconsin law says

As all employers are keenly aware, various federal, state, and local laws prohibit discrimination in employment decisions based on a variety of characteristics, such as gender, race, age, and disability. While federal law doesn’t specifically include conviction of a crime as a protected class, the Wisconsin Fair Employment Act (WFEA) does. “Conviction records” is defined broadly as:

[Including, but not limited to,] information indicating that an individual has been convicted of any felony, misdemeanor or other offense, has been adjudicated delinquent, has been less than honorably discharged or has been placed on probation, fined, imprisoned, placed on extended supervision or paroled pursuant to any law enforcement or military authority.