Staples class action claims company doesn’t notify job candidates about lie detector ban

Staples lie detector class action overview: 

• Who: Plaintiff Justin Korn has filed a class action lawsuit against Staples.
• Why: Korn claims the company violated a state law that bans the use of lie detectors in hiring decisions, and forces companies to disclose the law in applications.
• Where: The Staples lie detector class action lawsuit was filed in a Massachusetts federal court.

A Massachusetts man has filed a class action lawsuit against Staples alleging the company didn’t make a required disclosure about lie detectors in its job applications.

Plaintiff Justin Korn filed the class action complaint against Staples Inc. on Aug. 29 in a Massachusetts superior court, alleging violations of the state’s General Laws.

Korn accuses the company of violating a section of the state law that bans the use of lie detectors in hiring decisions. The law also requires companies to inform job applicants about the ban, which is the part of the law he alleges Staples violates.

Staples didn’t include required notice about lie detector prohibition

According to claims made in the lawsuit, Korn applied for three positions at Staples in August, including senior site reliability engineer, associate manager of strategic sourcing, and senior transportation analyst. 

Korn says none of the job applications he submitted included the required notice about the prohibition of lie detectors; Massachusetts law in effect for nearly 40 years explicitly gives applicants the right to sue employers who fail to provide this notice or use lie detectors in the hiring process, the lawsuit says. 

“Plaintiff and class members were aggrieved because they were bona-fide applicants for jobs with Staples, and Staples deprived them of their statutorily guaranteed right to the notice provided under Mass. Gen Laws,” the lawsuit states.

Korn seeks to represent anyone who applied for Massachusetts-based jobs at Staples. 

He’s seeking certification of the class action, damages of $500 per violation, fees, costs and a jury trial. 

Meanwhile, in 2017, Staples reached a nearly $4 million settlement in a class action lawsuit filed by consumers who alleged the company misrepresented the terms and conditions of some of its Extended Services Plans.

What do you think of the allegations made in the Staples lie detector class action lawsuit? Let us know in the comments. 

Korn is represented by David S. Godkin and James E. Kruzer of Birnbaum & Godkin LLP and Joshua D. Arisohn, Matthew A. Girardi and Julian C. Diamond of Bursor & Fisher PA.

The Staples class action lawsuit is Korn et al. v. Staples Inc., Case No. 2484CV02303, in the Suffolk County Superior Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

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