Employer Can Refuse To Hire Bankruptcy Debtors

I have previously written posts on the subject of bankruptcy and employment. How bankruptcy can effect your employment depends upon whether you are concerned about a current employer or employment. The bankruptcy code clearly prohibits your present employer from firing you because you filed bankruptcy while employed. Whether your bankruptcy can affect future hiring is not specifically dealt with in the bankruptcy law, and at least one bankruptcy court had permitted discrimination against bankruptcy debtor by new employers in their hiring process.

The Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals has recently settled this issue for Florida debtors. The court held that the Bankruptcy Code does not prohibit a private employer from denying employment to an individual on ground that the person has filed bankruptcy. The court pointed out that the Bankruptcy Code expressly prohibits a governmental unit from denying employment or terminating employment  because the employee is or has been a bankruptcy debtor. The 11th Cir.  case number  is 10-10774.