On March 14, 2024, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed legislation that would add a new provision to the Massachusetts Consumer Protection law and would bar the use of true credit reports for employment...more
3/25/2024
/ Anti-Retaliation Provisions ,
Background Checks ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Credit Reports ,
Employee Credit Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Non-Discrimination Rules ,
Screening Procedures ,
Unfair Labor Practices
Companies that hire employees and engage independent contractors in California should brace for a significant slowdown in background checks that include criminal record searches in California state courts....more
9/8/2021
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Criminal Records ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Regulations ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Rulemaking Process ,
State Labor Laws
Staffing companies and employers using all tools at their disposal to recruit workers may face increased risk following the Ninth Circuit’s recent opinion in Loyhayem v. Fraser Financial. In Loyhayem, the court found that...more
On July 15, 2021, the New York City Commission on Human Rights (the “NYCCHR” or “Commission”) issued its highly anticipated updated Legal Enforcement Guidance on the Fair Chance Act and Employment Discrimination. ...more
7/20/2021
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Fair Chance Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Regulations ,
Local Ordinance ,
Regulatory Requirements
In Ramirez v. Trans Union, the Ninth Circuit addressed whether, at the class certification stage of a putative class case, only the named plaintiff or all class members must have Article III standing (i.e., a concrete injury...more
3/2/2020
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Article III ,
Class Certification ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Credit Reporting Agencies ,
Credit Reports ,
Disclosure Requirements ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) ,
Putative Class Actions ,
Standing ,
Statutory Violations
With the start of a new year—and a new decade—employers in San Francisco, California, Waterloo, Iowa, and Grand Rapids, Michigan, must follow new “ban-the-box” laws restricting their use of criminal records in hiring and...more
2/13/2020
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Criminal Records ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Fair Chance Act ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Regulations ,
Local Ordinance ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws
Employers should continue to exercise caution and care in drafting their criminal record screening policies. A recent settlement by Dollar General underscores this point, even though it comes on the heels of the Fifth...more
11/4/2019
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Ban the Box ,
Bias ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Class Action ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Dollar General ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Multistate Corporations ,
Retailers ,
Settlement ,
Title VII
On August 6, 2019, in Texas v. EEOC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit dealt the EEOC a significant setback, largely affirming the district court’s decision that the EEOC violated the federal Administrative...more
8/7/2019
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Ban the Box ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Criminal Records ,
Disparate Impact ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Injunctions ,
Job Applicants ,
Summary Judgment ,
Title VII
A federal court’s recent decision demonstrates the value in reviewing all documents related to the independent contractor background screening process to attempt to solidify potential defenses to expansive class-action...more
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
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
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
On February 1, 2018, a federal judge enjoined the EEOC and U.S. Attorney General from enforcing against the State of Texas the EEOC’s 2012 Enforcement Guidance on the Consideration of Arrest and Conviction Records in...more
2/6/2018
/ Attorney General ,
Ban the Box ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Criminal Records ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Motion To Enjoin ,
State and Local Government ,
Summary Judgment ,
Title VII
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
The filing of a new discrimination lawsuit by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) answers the question whether, after five years of intensive scrutiny, employers can breathe a sigh of relief in terms of...more
7/18/2017
/ Civil Rights Act ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Discrimination ,
Disparate Impact ,
Employment Litigation ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Harassment ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Race Discrimination ,
Retaliation ,
Slurs ,
Title VII
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin recently held that an employer potentially violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) when it provided the employee with three days to dispute information...more
7/3/2017
/ Consumer Reporting Agencies ,
Corporate Counsel ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Application ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Job Applicants ,
USPS
On May 4, 2017, the New York Court of Appeals answered who may be liable under the state’s fair employment law for discrimination based on an individual’s conviction record. The opinion in Griffin v. Sirva, Inc. is...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 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
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