Advocates want ‘Ban The Box’ measure enacted

HARTFORD, Conn. – Standing outside a West Hartford sandwich shop Friday, protesters called on employers to end what they called “the foolish and discriminatory” policy of excluding people with criminal histories from getting a job.

“It makes a lot of sense to open up the job pool” and give everyone a shot at getting hired, said Kennard Ray, the national director of strategic partnerships with the Restaurant Opportunities Center United.

Hartford resident Jose Colon, a single father of two, said he lost out on an assistant manager job at D’Angelo Grilled Sandwiches after the company offered him the position then recanted once it ran a background check that merely confirmed the criminal record. Colon said he’d already told them about the record.

“My background just haunts me,” Colon said. “I can’t move forward in my life because of charges in my past.”

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