Kenni Miller, once employed as a shift manager at a Sheetz convenience store in Altoona, Pennsylvania, experienced workplace trust and appreciation seldom felt before as a Black man. His role was terminated a few weeks later, during the summer of 2020, following a background check. The dismissal devastated him. Despite possessing a nonviolent felony drug conviction from his teenage years, Miller had not been denied employment prior to this incident. His ability to perform the job was proven.
In an interview with The New York Times, Miller said, “I was well spoken. They had me running the cash register, talking to people, all the customers. I’m doing these things, learning the whole store, so I’m equipped for the job.”
In 2024, Miller joined a class-action lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against Sheetz. The lawsuit alleged that the company’s criminal background checks disproportionately screened out applicants of color. However, after President Trump assumed office, the E.E.O.C. unexpectedly dismissed the case.
The agency attributed its decision to an executive order issued by President Trump. This order directed federal agencies to deprioritize cases like Miller’s, which involve unintentional “disparate impact” policies that affect minority applicants, rather than intentional discrimination.
The shift in policy led to the closure of many civil rights cases across various departments, including education, housing, trade, justice, and the E.E.O.C. While there is no public record of precisely how many cases were closed, legal advocates consider this a generational gap in civil rights enforcement.
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