February

Albany County, New York, recently voted to amend the Albany County Human Rights Law to prohibit employers from requiring job applicants to provide prior or current salary information before offering them employment.

The bill, which was signed into law in early November, will go into effect 30 days after it is filed with the New York Secretary of State. The law will prohibit employers with four or more employees and employment agencies from screening applicants based on their current or prior wages and prevents them from requiring that an applicant's prior wages satisfy minimum or maximum criteria. It also prohibits employers from requesting or requiring that applicants disclose salary history information as a condition of being interviewed or considered for employment, and from seeking information about the current or prior salary of an applicant from his or her current or former employers.

Car rental company Avis recently filed its memorandum in support of final approval of a $2.7 million class action settlement to solve Fair Credit Reporting Act claims related to its background screening practices.

Plaintiff Angela Fuller filed the suit, Angela Fuller v. Avis Budget Car Rental LLC, et al., No. 2:15-cv-03856, in June 2015, claiming she lost a job with Avis because of improper background check practices. She claims the company failed to provide an adverse action notice and stand-alone disclosure, as well as demonstrated improper reliance on a 1985 citation for alcohol possession.

The class consists of 45,000 individuals who will receive cash payments of $20 to $695.

Plaintiff Adam Alessi recently filed a complaint in U.S. District court for the Eastern District of California Sacramento Division against Equifax Information Services LLC, Experian Information Solutions Inc. and Herbert P. Sears Co. Inc., alleging they failed to take adequate steps to verify information.

Alessi claims he suffered damages by loss of credit, loss of ability to purchase and benefit from credit, and the humiliation of credit denial when the defendants failed to follow procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy in preparation of his credit report.