Canon Agrees to Illegal Background Check Class Action Settlement

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Yesterday, Canon Solutions America Inc. and the lead plaintiff of an illegal background check class action lawsuit indicated they have come to a settlement agreement. This Canon class action litigation filed in New Jersey federal court alleged that the camera and imaging technology manufacturer ran illegal background checks on their employees.

Anya McPherson, a former Canon data entry worker, originally filed this illegal background check class action lawsuit in 2012 after she was allegedly fired by Canon based on the information given in the background check. At the time of the alleged firing, McPherson had been employed in Canon’s Burlington, N.J. branch as a temporary data-entry worker and had decided to apply for a full-time data entry position.

During McPherson’s transitional hiring period from temporary employee to possible full-time data entry employee, Canon allegedly ran a background check on Ms. McPherson and inquired as to whether or not she had ever been convicted of a crime in the last seven years. McPherson replied that she had not and was offered the position.

Four days into her permanent data entry position at the beginning of May 2012, McPherson was allegedly contacted by the human resources manager of Canon corporate and informed her that she had failed the background check due to a felony allegedly committed 12 years prior. The plaintiff alleges that she was fired the same day as the phone call from HR and she was not provided with a copy of the background check, a potential violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

McPherson alleges that had Canon given her a fair chance to explain the circumstances surrounding her alleged felony, she claims she would have been able to explain to her employer that she was eligible to have said felony expunged.

Since McPherson filed this Canon illegal background check class action lawsuit, Canon has attempted on several occasions to dismiss the class action allegations. In February of this year, U.S. District Judge Jerome B. Simandle denied Canon’s motion for dismissal based on the insufficiency of the proposed Class to meet the predominance requirement of certification.

This ruling also allowed McPherson to access Canon’s electronic employee termination and job applicant rejection records, through the established Class Period of two to five years prior to the December 2012 filing of the illegal background check class action lawsuit.

Two months after Judge Simandle’s ruling, Canon submitted a motion for settlement, followed by another similar item discussing settlement terms, though this document was heavily redacted. The settlement agreement submitted yesterday by both parties states that McPherson has agreed to permanently dismiss all class action allegations against Canon.

Canon denies all liability regarding the illegal background check allegations in this Canon class action lawsuit.

More information about the Canon class action settlement was not immediately available. Keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter for the latest updates. You can also mark this article as a “Favorite” using your free Top Class Actions account to receive notifications when this article is updated.

McPherson is represented by Sarah R. Schalman-Bergen and Patrick F. Madden of Berger & Montague PC and Carolyn H. Cottrell of Scheifer Wallace Cottrell Konecky LLP.

The Canon illegal Background Check Class Action Lawsuit is Anya McPherson, et al. v. Canon Business Solutions Inc., Case No. 1:12-cv-07761, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.