Federal authorities are making a move to drop a racial discrimination lawsuit against Sheetz. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which enforces workplace anti-discrimination laws, has begun notifying claimants of its intention to drop the lawsuit, siting President Trump’s executive order directing federal agencies to deprioritize the use of “disparate impact liability” in the civil rights enforcement. The law was in place to root out practices that close off minorities, people with disabilities, women, older adults and other groups from obtaining certain jobs. The lawsuit came about when a black man was hired by Sheetz in Altoona, five years ago, and was let go after a month, when he was told he failed a background check because of a felony drug conviction. According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, Sheetz’ policy of denying jobs of those who fail a background check resulted in over 14% black job applicants being denied employment, compared to 8% of white applicants. Sheetz denied the allegations. Even with this move on the part of the feds, the lawsuit might possibly move forward, as the worker involved in this case has filed a motion to pursue his own class action lawsuit.
Wednesday 4th March 2026
