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
In 2016, the City of Los Angeles enacted a detailed fair chance hiring ordinance. A comprehensive statewide law followed in 2017. Soon, employers with jobs located in the unincorporated areas of the County of Los...more
3/13/2024
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Ban the Box ,
California ,
City of Los Angeles ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Ads ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Reform ,
Labor Regulations ,
Local Ordinance ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
Screening Procedures ,
Undue Burden
For nearly a decade, Chicago has maintained a “ban-the-box” ordinance restricting employer’s use of criminal records in employment screening. This ordinance largely mirrored the requirements of Illinois’ state-wide Job...more
5/11/2023
/ Background Checks ,
Ban the Box ,
City of Chicago ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Illinois ,
Job Applicants ,
Labor Reform ,
Local Ordinance ,
New Regulations ,
Screening Procedures
On April 4, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit joined the Ninth Circuit in holding that a plaintiff lacked Article III standing to prosecute her statutory claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)...more
4/6/2022
/ Adverse Employment Action ,
Article III ,
Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Injury-in-Fact ,
Putative Class Actions ,
SCOTUS ,
Screening Procedures ,
Spokeo v Robins ,
Standing
For years, Philadelphia has maintained ordinances substantially restricting employers’ use of criminal record and credit histories in employment screening. These regulations are in addition to, not in lieu of, the federal...more
1/27/2021
/ Ban the Box ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Discrimination ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Gig Economy ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Independent Contractors ,
Job Applicants ,
Local Ordinance ,
Screening Procedures
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
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
Employers that use criminal record screening policies must continue to be vigilant about compliance with all applicable laws. Following a multi-million dollar settlement by a leading retailer earlier this year, a recent...more
9/17/2018
/ Ban the Box ,
Class Action ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Fair Chance Act ,
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Multi-Jurisdictional Litigation ,
Screening Procedures ,
State and Local Government ,
State Labor Laws ,
Statutory Violations
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
Employers that use criminal record screening policies must continue to be vigilant about compliance with all applicable laws. A recent settlement by one of the nation’s leading retailers, Target, reinforces this point. The...more
4/9/2018
/ Ban the Box ,
Civil Rights Act ,
Class Action ,
Conditional Job Offers ,
Criminal Background Checks ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Discrimination ,
Employment Litigation ,
Hiring & Firing ,
Job Applicants ,
Race Discrimination ,
Retailers ,
Screening Procedures ,
Target ,
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 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 April 16, 2015, the New York City Council overwhelmingly passed a bill to make it unlawful for most employers to use an applicant's or employee's credit history for employment purposes, except in certain, specified...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