BMW

BMW is a Munich automaker that designs and sells BMW cars and motorcycles.

The quick read Mixed record Reviewed Aug 22, 2026

The quick snapshot

Public concern on the record.

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Public concern

Why people pushed back

EEOC alleged that when BMW switched logistics contractors at its Spartanburg, South Carolina, plant in 2008, a criminal-conviction screen disqualified incumbents at a disproportionate rate for African-Americans. The complaint figures EEOC published: about 100 incumbents failed the screen, and about 80 percent of those disqualified were Black; EEOC sought relief for 56 African-Americans who were discharged. Those are the agency’s allegations in the pleading.

Title VII allegations
EEOC: Spartanburg criminal-background screen alleged disparate impact on Black logistics workersEEOC’s September 8, 2015, release says its lawsuit alleged that BMW excluded African-American logistics workers at a disproportionate rate when a new contractor applied BMW’s criminal-conviction guidelines to incumbents at the Spartanburg, South Carolina, production facility after a 2008 contractor switch. According to the complaint as EEOC described it, about 100 incumbent logistics workers failed the screen, and 80 percent of those disqualified were Black. EEOC sought relief for 56 African-Americans who were discharged. BMW had since voluntarily changed the guidelines, EEOC said. Those percentages and headcounts are complaint figures, not findings after trial.Source: U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ↗

Aug 22, 2026 · The Cookout Editorial Desk

BMW paid $1.6 million to settle an EEOC race case at its South Carolina plant

BLUF

The consent decree ordered $1.6 million and job offers after a 2008 contractor switch. BMW did not admit liability.

What happened

On September 8, 2015, a South Carolina federal court entered a consent decree in an EEOC race-discrimination lawsuit against BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC, the Spartanburg plant operator (parent BMW is headquartered in Munich). EEOC alleged that after BMW switched logistics contractors in 2008, a criminal-conviction screen—without regard to how old the conviction was or whether it was a misdemeanor or felony—disqualified incumbents at a disproportionate rate for African-Americans. The complaint figures EEOC published: about 100 incumbents failed the screen; about 80 percent of those disqualified were Black; EEOC sought relief for 56 African-Americans who lost the jobs. Those are allegations in the agency’s pleading, not a trial verdict. EEOC said BMW had already changed the guidelines.

BMW agreed to pay $1.6 million and to offer jobs to the discharged workers in the suit and to up to 90 African-American applicants turned away under the old screen, plus training and monitoring. EEOC called it a resolution of the lawsuit and related charges. A consent decree is a settlement. It is not an admission of liability.

The Cookout read

Mixed. A federal case about Black logistics workers screened out of a South Carolina auto plant is the file. The dollars and the job offers are labeled as what the decree required. This file will not treat complaint percentages as a jury’s math, or the check as proof the allegations were either fully proved or fully walked back.

Open the primary source ↗

Now / update

Where the record stands.

Last reviewed Aug 22, 2026. This is present-day status, not a new verdict.

The September 8, 2015, consent decree is the dated federal resolution opened here. This file does not independently audit later BMW Manufacturing hiring screens.

Last reviewed August 22, 2026.

Source file

Open the full passages.

Links may change after publication. Dates describe the event or publication listed in the record.

01
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
EEOC: Spartanburg criminal-background screen alleged disparate impact on Black logistics workers · Sep 8, 2015
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02
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
$1.6 million consent decree and job offers · Sep 8, 2015
Read source ↗

Community temperature check

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