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January 15 2014

Walt Disney Company and First Choice Background Screening are Subjects of FCRA Class Action Claims

"Two class action complaints were filed recently in the Superior Court of California County of Los Angeles court alleging violations of the FCRA. The cases are Culberson v. The Walt Disney Company and Ruffing v. First Choice Background Screening. The claim against Disney is that they knowingly violated the FCRA by failing to provide job applicants and employees with pre-adverse and adverse action notices and a copy of their back-ground check report. First Choice Background Screening is charged with multiple FCRA violations, including not using reasonable procedures to assure maximum possibly accuracy of the reports as well as strict procedures regarding the reporting of public record information. Both cases involve employment screening and should serve as a reminder to employers and consumer reporting agencies (CRA) to be mindful of their obligations under the FCRA. For CRAs it is important to consider the disclosure and authorization template you provide your end-users to ensure that it does not contain additional verbiage that could be challenged by plaintiff 's counsel as a notice which is not a ""clear and conspicuous disclosure"". For employers, whether it is handled by your CRA or internally, when using background check reports for employment screening purposes you must conduct the pre-adverse and adverse action steps, as applicable, when using information from such a report prior to taking any adverse action against the job applicant."