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Capital One Illegal Background Check Class Action Lawsuit
By Sarah Pierce
A federal class action lawsuit has been filed on behalf of Capital One employees and applicants, accusing the company of illegally obtaining and improperly using Consumer Reports for background checks in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. According to the class action lawsuit, Capital One violated the FCRA in two ways. First, by burying its background check authorization in a job application, which violates the law’s strict formatting requirements on companies who do background checks.
The Capital One background check class action lawsuit also accuses the company of violating the law by failing to provide copies of the Consumer Reports when it used them to take adverse employment actions, such as refusing to hire an applicant, refusing to promote an employee or terminating an employee. The FCRA requires companies to provide employees with copies of their background checks.
“Consumer Reports are notoriously inaccurate. The Fair Credit Reporting Act exists in part to ensure employees have a say in who can pull their Consumer Reports and have an opportunity to contest any inaccuracies that they may contain,” said the Plaintiff’s attorney.
The Capital One background check class action lawsuit is seeking to represent a class of all Capital One employees and job applicants for the past three years. If Capital One is found guilty of violating the FCRA as alleged, employees and prospective employees may be entitled to statutory damages of up to $1,000 for each violation.
“Based on our understanding of Capital One’s practices, everyone who has applied or worked for Capital One in the past three years should be eligible to receive statutory damages if our lawsuit succeeds,” continued the Plaintiff’s attorney.
The case is entitled Smith v. Capital One, N.A., Case No. 11-cv-03504-RDB, U.S. District Court, District of Maryland.
Updated December 28th, 2011
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4 thoughts onCapital One Illegal Background Check Class Action Lawsuit
Is there any way my previous post can be deleted. I didn’t realize I was posting personal information publicly.
I received three different copies of a background check that Capital One pulled, however I believe it contained information for another individual because it said I lived in several cities and states I’ve never lived in. After the verbal job offer, the background check was pulled. I have successfully passed around eight other background checks in my career without issue with companies like Wells Fargo, Kaiser Permanente, Yale, GDIT, and Southeastern Computer Consultants. I also had a background check done as a licensed VA realtor. I was given a verbal offer of employment, but only and e-mail in writing from ICONMA (the agency that placed me) indicating that I got the job with the pay rate. I disputed the hiring decision directly with Capital One because I was told I was ineligible for rehire, even though I’ve never worked at Capital One previously. During the dispute process, I was told that there was criminal activity associated with my information. For your information, I did miss court for a ~$150 check I wrote to Walmart about 25-30 years ago. As a result, a capias was issued for my arrest. The check was later paid, but I served a night in jail for it. Capital One would not elaborate on what criminal activity they were referring to though. So, I don’t know the real reason I was ‘ineligle for hire’ or ‘ineligible for rehire. I would like clarification of what criminal activity I have associated with my name, if this is not it.
Add me for sure
add me