District Court Allows Class Action Suit Based On Technical Failures to Comply with FCRA

May 24th, 2011

Kenneth Morales

Content Editor

FCRA

Legal

In the case, the employer obtained and used background reports for employment purposes. The employer allegedly did two things wrong.

The court found that the plaintiff could win based on these claims if she proved them. On the first claim, this means the court found that the plaintiff can win by proving that the disclosure was included in a general employment application. On the second claim, the court found that the plaintiff can win by showing that the period of time between the two notices was not reasonable.

Employers should review their current practices. To avoid expensive class actions like this one, employers should not include FCRA-required disclosures in the same document as a general employment application and should wait at least five days after sending a pre-adverse-action notice before sending an adverse-action notice.