The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently ruled in Syed v. M-I, LLC that a prospective employer violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) when it obtained a job applicant’s consumer report after including a liability waiver in the required disclosure document. Although the prospective employer in this case provided the mandated disclosures, it incorporated into the same document an agreement that the applicant waive his right to sue M-I and its agents for violation of the FCRA. The class action was filed, seeking statutory damages, punitive damages, and attorney’s fees and costs. Pursuant to his decision, companies must ensure that their FCRA-required disclosures do not contain a liability waiver.

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