The United States District Court for the Northern District of California recently dismissed a proposed class action alleging that LinkedIn was a Consumer Reporting Agency (CSA) under the FCRA and violated the law when it provided an online feature that allows…
Posts by Category: Fair Credit Reporting Act
Cook County, Illinois Amends Human Rights Ordinance to Limit Credit Checks
Cook County, Illinois enacted a bill (No. 15-3088) that amends the Cook County Human Rights Ordinance to restrict employers from asking about or otherwise considering a prospective or current employee’s credit history in employment decisions. The new ordinance…
Revisiting FCRA Requirements
A recent spate of class-action suits should remind employers and HR of the steep cost of FCRA violations. Experts say the time is right for employers to reassess their background-checking processes-and the role staffing and consumer reporting agencies play in those…
New York City Will Ban Employers From Viewing Credit History of Prospective Workers
The City Council is expected to pass a bill that will make it illegal for employers to check job-seekers’ credit history. In addition to banning credit reports on a prospective employee, the bill also prohibits employers from asking people what their credit…
California District Court Holds that LinkedIn’s “Reference Searches” Function Not a Consumer Report Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act
A judge recently handed down an important decision regarding the application of the FCRA to one of LinkedIn’s search products. The decision comes amidst a fluid legal landscape for employers and consumer reporting agencies trying to remain in compliance with the…
Federal Judge in California Brings Down the Curtain on a FCRA Class Action Against Paramount Pictures
Class actions alleging technical violations of the FCRA against employers who obtain consumer reports on job applicants are all the rage, generating large settlements and headlines. Perhaps bucking this trend, a federal judge in California recently dismissed a…
Employers Running Background Checks: Top 10 Tips to Avoid Joining the Fair Credit Reporting Act Litigation “Club”
What do Whole Foods, Chuck E. Cheese, Michael’s Stores, Dollar General, Panera, Publix, and K-Mart have in common? Each of these companies has faced lawsuits (including class actions) under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”). Although Congress…
FCRA Class Action Lawsuit Filed Against Pizza Hut
In a complaint filed January 15, 2015 in the Southern District of New York the Plaintiff – Alberto Rivera, a job applicant at a Bronx, NY location – alleges Pizza Hut violated the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requirement that a “clear and…
Another FCRA Class Action Lawsuit Crafted Against Michaels
A second class action lawsuit alleging improper background checks on job applicants was filed in federal court in Texas against the retail craft supply chain Michaels Stores Inc. The plaintiff argues that Michaels violated the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)…
Paramount Slapped With Class Action Over Credit Reports For Job Applicants
Looks like there was something prickly buried in the fine print for one prospective employee and maybe many more. Paramount Pictures has been hit with a lawsuit over allegedly not telling job applicants exactly how deep into their past it intends to look. “This…



