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
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 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 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 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
Employers operating in Massachusetts are already aware of the Commonwealth’s Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) law. CORI refers to the database of criminal information maintained by the Department of Criminal...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
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
The world of Big Data has arrived, and it is beginning to affect employers and their decision-making in ways undreamed of even a few years ago. Employers can access more information about their applicant pool than ever...more
8/5/2015
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Big Data ,
Class Action ,
Compliance ,
Data Protection ,
Data Security ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
OFCCP ,
Popular ,
Privacy Policy ,
Workplace Safety
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
In recent years, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has aggressively sought to enforce its April 2012 enforcement guidance concerning how, in the EEOC’s view, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 restricts an...more
5/14/2015
/ Ban the Box ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Credit History ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Criminal Records ,
Dollar General ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Title VII ,
Wrongful Termination
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
In 2013, the ballooning number of employment class actions illuminated the sea change in Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) litigation. The FCRA was enacted in 1970 during President Nixon's administration, and is hardly in its...more
1/6/2014
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
Consent ,
Contract Drafting ,
Credit Reporting Agencies ,
Credit Reports ,
Employee Rights ,
Employment Policies ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Offers ,
Personnel Records
In This Issue:
- Summary Of FCRA Obligations On Employers That Use Consumer Reports For Employment Purposes
- Potential Liability For FCRA Non-Compliance And The Growing Wave Of FCRA Class Action
-...more
Effective November 1, 2013, Seattle, Washington will join various other jurisdictions (most recently Minnesota, Indiana, North Carolina and Buffalo, New York) that limit inquiries into and the use of criminal records for...more