The Risks in Background Checks
Current Trends in FCRA Litigation - The Consumer Finance Podcast
AGG Talks: Background Screening - Ban the Box and Fair Chance Hiring Laws: The Year in Review
AGG Talks: Background Screening - Redaction of Identifiers by the Courts Update, Breaking News from California
AGG Talks: Background Screening - Redaction of Identifiers by the Courts in Michigan and California Pose Challenges for Background Checks
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is a federal law that governs employment-related background checks. Most lawsuits asserting federal claims proceed in federal court. The FCRA is atypical in that FCRA claims can proceed...more
Employers in New York may be liable for the failure to hire a convicted murderer, a federal court judge in the state ruled, refusing to dismiss a proposed class action. Henry Franklin was convicted of second-degree murder...more
As we predicted four years ago, class action lawsuits against employers under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) continue to spike, including class actions targeting background check disclosures....more
Under federal law, an employer that conducts a background check for an applicant or employee must first provide written notice, also known as a disclosure, to that individual – but recent court decisions demonstrate how...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On March 20, 2020, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals held the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s (“FCRA”) standalone disclosure requirement does not allow for the inclusion of any extraneous information in an...more
By Jason Wyman On March 20, 2020, the Ninth Circuit issued its opinion Walker v. Fred Meyer, Inc., 2020 U.S. App. LEXIS 8809 (9th Cir. Mar. 20, 2020) and created a “concise explanation” standard to judge when an employer’s...more
These days, companies conducting background checks on job applicants have a lot to think about. Most companies are aware of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and FCRA’s various state analogs. FCRA, one of a number of...more
Two pending class action lawsuits alleging coffee giant Starbucks violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) by relying on flawed background reports to decline employment to over 8,000 job applicants will likely settle...more
The roller coaster of employer liability under the background check provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) recently took an upswing with the California Court of Appeals’ decision in Culberson v. Walt Disney Parks...more
On January 29, 2019, the U.S Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (covering a number of states and territories bordering the Pacific Ocean) issued a far-reaching opinion that will likely impact the hiring process of...more
The disclosure requirement of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) remains one of the most contentious and expensive litigation areas for employers. The case law from various federal district courts has been a mixed...more
On Friday, Magistrate Judge David R. Strawbridge of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania granted motions for Final Approval of Class Action Settlement and Award of Attorneys’ Fees and Reimbursement of Expenses in Kelly v....more
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued an important opinion that is relevant not only to employers that are responsible for a providing job seekers with a compliant disclosure and authorization under the Fair Credit...more
On Jan. 29, 2019, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a strikingly broad decision, raised the bar for employers’ compliance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). In Gilberg v. California Check Cashing Stores, LLC,...more
Check your background check disclosure forms. Now. The Ninth Circuit has now declared that background check disclosure forms that include state law disclosures are illegal. Gilberg v. California Check Cashing Stores, LLC,...more
Could there be a split brewing with regard to standing to pursue FCRA claims against potential employers for violating the stand-alone disclosure requirement contained in 15 U.S.C. § 1681(b)(2)(A)(i)? Maybe....more
In recent months, we have seen a large uptick in FCRA class actions. If you’re a regular reader here at FCRALand, you may recall the Stanford class action filed in October 2018, the PetCo class settlement in November 2018,...more
Earlier this month, a class representative for employees and prospective employees at Delta Airlines reached a proposed settlement with Delta. The settlement is awaiting court approval, but provides helpful context of the...more
Companies are increasingly faced with class actions for alleged violations of one of the “big three” —the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), or the Fair Credit Reporting Act...more
Stanford University is facing a new FCRA class action with, potentially, over a thousand class members. And it’s not the first time Stanford has faced these claims. According to the class action complaint in Richards v....more
This month’s key employment law cases address pre-employment physicals, appeals from California Labor Commissioner awards, and background checks. EEOC v. BNSF Ry. Co., 902 F.3d 916 (9th Cir. 2018)...more
The Central District of California just issued a summary judgment ruling in case regarding how clear and conspicuous a FCRA disclosure form and authorization must be. In Luna v. Hansen & Adkins Auto Transp., Inc., 313 F....more
On September 10, 2018, in Long v. Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit joined the chorus of recent circuit court opinions tackling the question of...more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held on July 13 that procedural violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act without actual harm were insufficient to confer Article III standing. The court found in Dutta v....more
The FCRA is not a classic employment law, but regulates the procurement and use of background checks by employers. Before procuring a background check from a consumer reporting agency (CRA), the employer must disclose its...more