Altoona-based Sheetz discriminated in hiring, lawsuit says

By Kris B. Mamula / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Sheetz, the Altoona-based convenience store chain with 750 outlets in Pennsylvania and six other states, used criminal background checks as a pretext for racial discrimination in hiring, a new federal lawsuit alleges.

Acting on two discrimination complaints, a three-count civil lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania by the the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission alleged that Sheetz Inc. and two affiliates screened applicants’ criminal history for all job openings, which was then used to decide whether to offer candidates employment. The hiring process, which has been used companywide since at least 2015, resulted in fewer Blacks and other minorities than whites with criminal records getting hired, less than 8% versus 14.5%, according to the complaint.

The results were consistent with published criminal justice statistics, indicating that Blacks and other minorities throughout the U.S. are subject to arrest, conviction and imprisonment at significantly higher rates than whites, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit was filed in Maryland in April and transferred to the Western District’s Johnstown court Oct. 4 at the request of Sheetz. The company’s corporate headquarters are located about 40 miles away from Johnstown in Blair County. 

The company “engaged in unlawful employment practices at their Maryland facilities and business operations and all other facilities and business operations company-wide through their particular employment practice of using criminal justice history information as a basis for declining to hire job applicants for all positions,” the EEOC alleged. “Black job applicants comprise a disproportionately high number of the total number of job applicants whom defendants have refused to hire because of criminal justice history information.”

Sheetz did not respond to a request for comment.

The EEOC failed to reach a negotiated settlement with Sheetz, according to the lawsuit, and the convenience store chain is seeking a permanent injunction against racial discrimination in hiring, back pay plus interest for a class of affected minority job applicants and reimbursement of legal expenses.

The EEOC, which enforces laws against job discrimination and harassment, filed 143 employment discrimination lawsuits for the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2023, a 50% increase from the previous year, according to the agency. The most frequently alleged bases of discrimination were retaliation, 39.2%; sex, 35%; disability, 34.3%; and race, 16.8%.

Sheetz, which was founded in 1952 in Altoona, operates combination stores and gas stations in Pennsylvania and six other states — Maryland, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia. The employee-owned company has over 21,000 employees.