into their screening processes. Employers and consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) must provide the notice to applicants and employees to comply with the federal statute, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). While the Final Rule is set to take effect on April 19, the CFPB provided a grace period for mandatory compliance until March 20, 2024. Despite this grace period, employers should start using t...

This advisory was updated on August 22, 2022 On August 18, 2022, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida entered a preliminary injunction enjoining certain government officials from enforcing portions of the Individual Freedom Act. The case, Honeyfund.com, Inc. v. Desantis, No. 4:22-cv-MW/MAF, was brought by two Florida employers subject to the FCRA that planned to c...

xt of business-to-business transactions (exempt for a one-year period). Credit inquiries/reporting to the extent these activities are subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1681 (FCRA). Neither of these exemptions will block an individual’s private right of action in the event of a data breach. Business Contacts Like the carve-out for employee data, the inter-busine...

Recently, the Bureau of Consumer Financial Affairs (Bureau) adopted a new Summary of Consumer Rights form that must be used when notifying employees of consumer financial protections afforded them under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Consequently, employers seeking permission to obtain a background check on an employee or applicant for employment must use the new form or modify their own fo...

On September 10, 2018, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit affirmed that job applicants could sue a prospective employer under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) for failure to provide background check reports (referred to consumer reports under FCRA) before revoking offers of employment on the basis of information contained in those reports. In Long v. SEPTA, No. 17-1889, ...

ypes of intangible injuries can establish standing. Although the 2016 Spokeo decision had created a pathway for the lower courts to stem the tidal wave of claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the Fair Debt Collection Practice Act (FDCPA) and the Telephone Communications Protection Act (TCPA) where the plaintiffs had inconsequential, if any, damages, the Supreme Court failed to provi...

ssing debt collection behavior. Violations of the FDCPA continue to top the list of complaints received by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. See WebRecon LLC, 2016 Year in Review: FDCPA Down, FCRA & TCPA Up, (last checked May 17, 2017). The most common complaint received is based on collection attempts that continue despite the debt not being owed by the complainant. See id. In additio...

In a case of first impression, the Ninth Circuit ruled that an employer willfully violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by including a liability waiver in a disclosure and authorization form that it provided to a job applicant. As a result, the employer could be held liable for statutory damages ranging from $100 to $1,000, punitive damages, as well as attorneys’ fees and costs, even...

nt in Spokeo, Inc. v. Robins, No. 13-1339, Justice Antonin Scalia stated these, and other, characteristically firm opinions about the plaintiff's statutory claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), leaving no room for doubt that, in his mind, this plaintiff's case has no place in federal court. After all, this is one of many "no-injury" statutory class actions brought in federal court ba...

The Supreme Court of Florida recently ruled that the Florida Civil Rights Act’s (“FCRA”) provision prohibiting sex discrimination in employment (Fla. Stat. § 760.10(1)(a)) encompasses discrimination based on pregnancy. Delva v. Continental Group, Inc., 2014 Fla. LEXIS 1316 (Fla. 2014). The ruling is significant, even though pregnancy discrimination is already illegal under f...

request credit reports on prospective hires and current employees. The Dodd-Frank Act will not impact the currently existing obligations of these employers under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”). Several employers, however, consider credit scores of prospective and current employees in assessing the propriety of placement in financially sensitive positions – i.e. positions ...

Beginning January 1, 2013, employers conducting background checks will be required to provide an updated Summary of Consumer Rights form to comply with their obligations under the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA"). Why were the forms changed? The forms were modified to make clear that the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will assume responsibility for administering and enforci...

On August 11, 2009, the FTC filed proposed consent decrees in United States v. Quality Terminal Servs., LLC D. Colo., No. 09-cv-01853 and United States v. Rail Terminal Servs., LLC. W.D.Wash., No. 09-CV0111, that will require the companies to pay a combined $77,000 in penalties for violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act, by using employee backgrou...

oral statements are also criminally prohibited in Pennsylvania if undertaken without the employee's consent. (d) Credit Checks: The Fair Credit Reporting Act The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) imposes certain requirements on employers who use credit checks as an evaluative tool. Keep in mind that, as in the other areas of this presentation, what is presented here is intended only to b...

record $10 million civil penalty and $5 million for consumer redress to settle the FTC's charges that ChoicePoint's lax security and record handling procedures violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the FTC Act. Specifically, the FTC alleged that ChoicePoint violated the FCRA by providing credit histories to individuals who did not have a legitimate purpose for using such reports and vi...