After receiving complaints from individuals around the country who have had trouble removing erroneous information or even learning about what is contained in their specialty credit report, U.S. Senator Claire McCaskill continued to fight for consumers by pushing for…
Posts by Category: Fair Credit Reporting Act
FTC Releases Updated FCRA Guidance on Background Checks
The FTC released a new publication related to background checks and the FCRA titled What Employment Background Screening Companies Need to Know About the Fair Credit Reporting Act. As the name suggests, the publication surveys the obligations that consumer reporting…
Proposed Amendments To Fair Credit Reporting Act
Two new bills affecting credit reporting and the use of credit reports for employment purposes are working their way through Congress. If passed, the bills would amend the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The first, The Credit Access and Inclusion Act of 2015, H.R….
Wisconsin Employers Targeted For Technical Violations of The Fair Credit Reporting Act
Within the past year, one Wisconsin resident has filed several class-action lawsuits against Wisconsin employers. In each case, the plaintiff filed a class-action lawsuit against the employer in Wisconsin federal court on the grounds that the employers had violated…
Study: Credit-Check Bans Lead To More Bias
A new study finds that when employers are prohibited from looking into applicants’ financial history, African-Americans become more likely to be unemployed compared to other demographic groups. Which is odd, the story notes, considering that studies find little…
Technical Violation of FCRA Enough to Continue Suit Against Sprint
Reiterating the need for employers to ensure compliance with every word of the FCRA, an Illinois judge let a suit proceed against Sprint over background checks, holding that the alleged technical violation of the statute can move forward despite the fact that the…
If Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. Obtained Your Consumer Report in Connection to a Job Application, you Could Receive Money from a Class Action Settlement
Wells Fargo will pay twelve million dollars related to allegations for obtaining consumer reports (background checks) in connection with job applications. Plaintiff Terrell Manuel applied for and was offered a job at Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (Wells Fargo). At the time…
Federal Courts Increase Scrutiny of Employer Compliance with the FCRA’s Adverse Action Requirements
In the last two years, the number of employment class actions under the federal FCRA has ballooned. Most of the cases reported in the media have involved challenges to an employer’s compliance with the FCRA’s disclosure and authorization requirements. However,…
Court Declines to Dismiss FCRA Claim Based on Presence of State Law Notices in Background Check Disclosure
In Lagos v. The Leland Stanford Junior University, the plaintiff alleged the defendant’s background check disclosure violated the FCRA because it included notices regarding background checks required under state law. The court declined to dismiss the…
Within Reach
Organizations leverage background screening when hiring new employees in order to protect themselves from making a costly mistake. But candidates are also protected by federal laws, like the FCRA that help regulate background reports by promoting accuracy and privacy…



