My wife worked years as a waitress with the same hotel. The…

My wife worked for 11 years as a waitress with the same hotel. The hotel sold and the new owners will take over on Jan first. They requested criminal background checks on all hotel staff and my wife reluctantly signed a consent form. Weeks later they scheduled HR interviews and dismissed my wife,telling her it's because of her criminal record and the new companies policy is to not employ anyone that has one. She had checked off 'yes' on the consent form because of a DUI from 15 years ago that she was not sure had cleared. They offered her no official severance except to pay her an average of her scheduled days including tips, to the end of December when she would have not been able to work anymore because of the new ownership and their policies. Or she had the option to stay on and work to that date. She was given no dismissal letter and told the only reason was because of the criminal record. Nothing was said ahead of filling out the consent form about the policy and the possibility she would be dismissed. This happened to two other staff members working in her restaurant, both had DUI's from years past. Is this not discrimination?