Cook County class-action alleges Target used arrest records to deny jobs

A class-action complaint against Target Corporation was filed in Cook County, Illinois state court on Feb 24, 2026, alleging the company relied on arrest records and pending criminal charges rather than convictions when denying employment or rescinding job offers. The complaint centers on applicants and prospective hires whose opportunities were allegedly blocked after arrests or charges were discovered in background checks.

The filing, lodged in Cook County circuit court, accuses Target of using non-conviction records as a de facto hiring disqualification. According to the complaint, the employer assessed arrests and unresolved criminal matters as grounds to withdraw offers or refuse to hire, without limiting decisions to convictions or measures of job-related risk.

Plaintiffs seek relief through the Illinois state-court process as a class action; the complaint frames the issue as systemic rather than the result of isolated hiring errors. The document filed Feb 24, 2026 sets out the allegations and the proposed class, initiating litigation in Cook County that will test how broadly Illinois courts allow employers to consider arrest histories in hiring decisions.

As of Feb 26, 2026 the case is newly filed and pending initial court proceedings in Cook County. The complaint puts Target’s background-check practices under legal scrutiny and begins a process that could lead to motions over class certification and discovery into the company’s use of arrest records and pending charges when making employment decisions.

The litigation follows a growing focus on how employers treat criminal records; by bringing the claim in Cook County on Feb 24, 2026 the plaintiffs have placed Target’s hiring policies at the center of an Illinois state-court test of whether arrests and unresolved charges can be used to deny or rescind employment offers.