Chipotle Faces Potential FCRA Class Action Lawsuit

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A woman who applied for a job at Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. has filed a putative class action lawsuit against the national restaurant chain. According to the class action lawsuit, Chipotle has violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act in their application documents by asking applicants to sign their consent for background checks embedded and essentially “hidden” within a general consent agreement.

Plaintiff Lorena Mejia filed the Chipotle class action lawsuit in California federal court after having applied for employment at a Chipotle restaurant. As part of the application, Chipotle had referenced a provision of allowing the company to conduct background checks on potential applicants.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), employers may not obtain a consumer report or investigative consumer report for employment purposes unless the disclosure of such is made in a separate document. The document must be for the sole purpose of disclosure and must have the written authorized consent from the applicant or potential employee.

According to the FCRA class action lawsuit, Chipotle’s disclosure was surrounded by other language pertaining to additional information Mejia was required to consent to on the application. FCRA requires that the disclosure form be solely for purposes of disclosure and not “encumbered by any other information … in order to prevent consumers from being distracted by other information side-by-side with the disclosure.”

Mejia went on to state that the FCC has expressly warned that the FRCA notice “may not include extraneous or contradictory information, such as a request for a consumer’s waiver of his or her rights under the FCRA.” Inclusion of additional information in the disclosure would be a direct violation of FCRA, according to the Chipotle class action lawsuit.

As part of FCRA, employers are also required to provide individuals with a written summary of their rights under FCRA, and Mejia states that she did not receive these from Chipotle.

The Chipotle class action lawsuit alleges violations of the FCRA, Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act (ICRAA), Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act and California Business & Professions Code. Together, these represent privacy and statutory rights violations alleged by the plaintiff.

Under the ICRAA, Chipotle violated the act by failing to provide a written form to Mejia and putative Class Members that included a box to check to indicate the applicant’s desire to receive a copy of the investigative consumer report that Chipotle required as part of their application process, the class action lawsuit alleges. Chipotle also allegedly failed to send a copy of the report to Mejia and potential Class Members within three business days of Chipotle receiving the report.

Mejia seeks, on behalf of herself and potential Class Members: statutory, actual, and/or compensatory damages, punitive damages, equitable relief, including costs and expenses of litigation including attorney’s fees, and appropriate injunctive relief requiring Defendants to comply with their legal obligations, as well as additional further relief deemed appropriate by the court.

Mejia is represented by Samuel Wong, Kashif Haque and Sam Kim of Aegis Law Firm PC.

The Chipotle FCRA Class Action Lawsuit is Mejia v. Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc., et al., Case No. 5:15-cv-01911, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.