A Guide to Running Background Checks: What's the Tea in L&E?
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
In our latest episode, Anne Bibeau, co-chair of the Labor & Employment practice, joins host Leah Stiegler to explore best practices for navigating hiring individuals with criminal backgrounds. Leah and Anne share insights on...more
Background checks are an essential part of the hiring process and personal safety. But how far back do they go? If you’ve ever wondered about the time limits on background checks, you’re not alone....more
Background checks are vital in ensuring you make informed decisions about candidates. However, selecting the right background check vendor can be daunting given the myriad of options available. Choosing wisely not only...more
Hiring hourly workers, especially in high-volume sectors like retail, hospitality, healthcare, and construction, presents unique challenges. The demand for quick hiring can sometimes lead to shortcuts in the background...more
A job applicant who claims he was not fully informed about adverse information that appeared on a background check is not entitled to relief under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (the FCRA), the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals...more
On January 11, the Massachusetts Court of Appeals ordered that an employee has standing to sue in state court, despite lacking standing to sue in a federal court. The employee (plaintiff) sued a prospective employer for...more
A scary surprise is fun to encounter when you are in a haunted house at a Halloween event, but not so much fun when you are performing a background check on a potential employee. Even worse is finding out after the fact that...more
Employers commonly conduct background checks on prospective employees in various areas that they may think relevant when deciding whether to hire an individual for a job. Yet, federal, state, and local laws are increasingly...more
A significant decision from a California state appeals court has shifted the legal landscape for technical Fair Credit Reporting Act claims brought in California state court in favor of defendants. Originally published in...more
Today’s manufacturers must be creative, yet transparent, in attempting to attract entry level and semi-skilled applicants to positions in good work environments with competitive pay and benefits (despite out-of-date...more
Employers should promptly update their Summary of Consumer Rights notice provided to applicants and workers before taking adverse employment action based on their background check reports, thanks to a new rule about to take...more
On March 17, 2023, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) published an updated version of the publication entitled, “A Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act,” which is also called the “Summary of...more
A recent opinion issued by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted an employer’s motion for summary judgment, rejecting a series of technical arguments advanced by the plaintiff that the...more
The continued filing of lawsuits against employers under the FCRA underscores the need for in-house counsel, Human Resources, and Talent Acquisition to comply with the statute, especially the “pre-adverse action” notice...more
Employment background checks help employers hire individuals with integrity whom they can trust, and who do not present a risk to the business, other employees, or the customers and clients that the business serves. Buyers in...more
Background checks are a great idea—unless you fail to do them correctly. Mistakes can be costly. One online retailer paid $5 million to settle a class action filed by 454,000 job applicants alleging violations of the Fair...more
Conducting criminal background checks on job candidates is a common practice for employers but one that raises a host of compliance concerns amid a series of federal, state, and local laws and regulations governing how and...more
A precedential decision last week by the California Court of Appeal may leave some employers feeling like no good deed goes unpunished. That decision ruled that a jury would have to decide if an employer willfully violated...more
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
If “fake it till you make it” were a person, she would be fake German heiress Anna Sorokin, a.k.a. Anna Delvey. Netflix’s latest viewer obsession Inventing Anna, created by Shonda Rhimes, tells the “completely true, except...more
Background check reports are an important – and in many cases essential – tool in making informed and responsible employment decisions. Gathering and using this information, however, carries legal obligations and...more
After the District Court for the District of Oregon dismissed a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) suit filed against Fred Meyer, Inc., the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals partially reversed, holding Fred Meyer had failed to...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
More and more organizations are conducting background checks on applicants and employees. Whether it’s to minimize safety and security risks, increase protection against fraud and theft, or required by law for your industry,...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