On April 15, 2019, a California Court of Appeal affirmed summary judgment for the employer in an action alleging class-wide violations of the hyper-technical provisions of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)....more
Almost two years ago to the day, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit became the first appellate court to rule on the lawfulness of a liability waiver in a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) disclosure. ...more
Employers that use criminal record-screening policies must continue to be vigilant about compliance with all applicable laws and should know that the EEOC’s scrutiny of such policies, while perhaps scaled back, has not ended....more
10/2/2018
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Screening Procedures ,
Title VII
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
9/11/2018
/ Adverse Action ,
Appeals ,
Article III ,
Background Checks ,
Class Action ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Job Applicants ,
Standing ,
Statutory Violations
On September 6, 2018, in Auer v. Trans Union, LLC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit joined the Seventh Circuit in holding that an individual plaintiff did not have constitutional standing to sue in federal...more
9/10/2018
/ Appeals ,
Article III ,
Background Checks ,
Credit Reports ,
Dismissals ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Standing ,
Statutory Violations ,
Wrongful Termination
On August 29, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit issued its opinion in Robertson v. Allied Solutions, LLC, holding the plaintiff had standing to sue in federal court under the Fair Credit Reporting Act...more
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) class action lawsuits against employers are reaching epidemic proportions as class-wide settlements encourage more lawyers to move into this niche practice area....more
Nationwide class action claims against employers under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) are more common now than ever before. On July 13, 2018, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued an opinion,...more
7/19/2018
/ Appeals ,
Article III ,
Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Banking Sector ,
Class Action ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Screening Procedures ,
Standing ,
State Farm
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
3/1/2018
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Background Checks ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Disney ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
GEICO ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Motion to Dismiss ,
Southwest Airlines ,
Summary Judgment ,
Transfer of Venue ,
Willful Violations
The flurry of Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) class actions against employers started in or about 2012 and was not limited to California. Many of those lawsuits resulted in significant payouts for violations of one or more...more
10/20/2017
/ Article III ,
Background Checks ,
Class Action ,
Credit Reporting Agencies ,
Credit Reports ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Screening Procedures ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing
On October 14, 2017, Governor Jerry Brown signed Assembly Bill 1008, which will add a section to the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA) containing new state-wide restrictions on an employer’s ability to make...more
On August 15, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit issued another opinion in the saga of Robins v. Spokeo, Inc.—a case dealing with the question of what violations of a federal statute are sufficient to...more
As Littler has reported, the number of class action lawsuits against employers alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) has continued to spike. Most lawsuits proceed in federal court, but the FCRA allows...more
7/18/2017
/ Background Checks ,
Class Action ,
Class Certification ,
Consumer Reports ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Notice Requirements
On April 28, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a blog article entitled “Background checks on prospective employees: Keep required disclosures simple.” The FTC is one of the two federal agencies with oversight...more
On January 20, 2017, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit became the first appellate court to rule on the lawfulness of a liability waiver in a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) disclosure. In Syed v. M-I, the...more
In the next week, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti is expected to sign the Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring (Initiative), which will prohibit most private sector employers from inquiring into a job applicant’s criminal...more
12/12/2016
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Exemptions ,
Fair Chance Act ,
Fines ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Local Ordinance ,
Notice Requirements ,
Penalties ,
Posting Requirements ,
Record Retention ,
Title VII
On May 16, 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, a case raising the procedural question whether any and all violations of a federal statute are sufficient for a plaintiff to...more
5/17/2016
/ Article III ,
Background Checks ,
Class Action ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Popular ,
SCOTUS ,
Screening Procedures ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing
On May 10, 2016, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a new publication related to background checks and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) titled What Employment Background Screening Companies Need to Know About the...more
After several high-profile setbacks in disparate impact discrimination lawsuits challenging criminal record screening policies, the EEOC has entered into a settlement (consent decree) in one of its few remaining cases, a...more
9/23/2015
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
BMW ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Consent Decrees ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Discrimination ,
Disparate Impact ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Popular ,
Race Discrimination ,
Settlement ,
Title VII
Under the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), background screening companies (or consumer reporting agencies) are generally prohibited from reporting certain types of derogatory information that the FCRA considers to be...more
Following closely on the heels of a citywide bill restricting employer’s use of credit information for employment decisions, on June 10, 2015, the New York City Council passed a new bill restricting an employer’s ability to...more
The latest chapter in the ongoing saga of employment-related criminal background checks in the United States has been written, and one of the authors had some particularly strong words for the Equal Employment Opportunity...more
On August 22, 2014, the District of Columbia Mayor signed a new law restricting most employers that operate in the District of Columbia in their ability to rely on criminal history information, including criminal background...more
In This Issue:
- Summary Of FCRA Obligations On Employers That Use Consumer Reports
- Potential Liability For FCRA Non-Compliance
- The Swelling Tide Of Class Action Filings
- Mitigating Measures
-...more
8/4/2014
/ Background Checks ,
Best Management Practices ,
Class Action ,
Consumer Reports ,
Credit Reports ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Risk Assessment ,
Risk Mitigation ,
Screening Procedures
On February 11, 2014, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed sweeping amendments to San Francisco Police Code, Article 49, and Administrative Code, Article 12 (“the amendments” or “the ordinances”) that significantly...more
2/19/2014
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Criminal Records ,
Employee Definition ,
Employment Application ,
Human Resources Professionals ,
Job Applicants ,
Personnel Records ,
Posting Requirements