The Law Center works to reduce barriers to employment for individuals with criminal records who are disproportionately people of color and who routinely face discrimination in the workforce for decades after they have successfully completed their sentences.

Rodney Phath had applied for a truck driving position with Central Transport and disclosed an old, unrelated, criminal conviction during his job interview. Central Transport declined to hire him based on that conviction. Mr. Phath sued, alleging the employer violated Pennsylvania’s Criminal History Record Information Act (CHRIA), which restricts how criminal history may be used in hiring, including prohibiting employers from using a criminal conviction to deny employment unless the conviction directly relates to the applicant’s suitability for the particular position.

Interpreting CHRIA narrowly, the district trial court dismissed the case, concluding CHRIA did not apply because the employer learned of the conviction directly from Mr. Phath rather than from a state database. In 2025, the Law Center participated as an amici in a brief coordinated by National Employment Law Project and their co-counsel at Outten and Golden in support of Mr. Phath in his appeal to the Third Circuit. PRECEDENTIAL OPINION. Coram BIBAS, SCIRICA and SMITH, Circuit Judges. Total Pages 7. Judge BIBAS [28] 25.03.24 NELP et al Amicus Brief

If allowed to stand, the district court’s misinterpretation of CHRIA would have created a significant loophole allowing an employer to exempt itself from CHRIA simply by asking the applicant for the information rather than relying on a background check report.

In January 2026, the Third Circuit reversed the lower court, holding that CHRIA  limits the use of an employment applicant’s criminal history record, regardless of the source of the criminal history information.