Christina Spicer  |  November 11, 2015

Category: Labor & Employment

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Big Lots class action lawsuitLast week, a proposed class action lawsuit alleging improper background checks on employees was filed in Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas against the retail discount store chain Big Lots Stores Inc.

Lead plaintiff, Philadelphia resident Aaron Abel, alleges in his class action lawsuit that the retailer obtains credit reports on job applicants in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Abel alleges that extraneous information is included in a document used to obtain consent from job applicants to obtain a background check.

According to the Big Lots class action lawsuit, Abel applied to work at a Big Lots in November 2013. In doing so, he reportedly signed a form called the “Consent to Request Consumer Report & Investigative Consumer Report Information.” A background check was performed on the plaintiff by a third party that same day, the FCRA class action lawsuit says.

“First,” Abel argues in the Big Lots class action lawsuit, “the form contains the statement that the applicant ‘fully understand[s] that all employment decisions are based on legitimate non-discriminatory reasons.” However, he continues, the language used in the document is not a sufficient “disclosure that a consumer report may be obtained for employment purposes nor an authorization for the procurement of a consumer report.”

According to the Big Lots class action lawsuit, “Defendant repeatedly and routinely uses the same unlawful document with all of its employees on whom it procured consumer reports or otherwise failed to provide them with the required stand-alone disclosure.” Because of this, Abel argues that a class action lawsuit is the best way to resolve the claims over the alleged violations of the FCRA by Big Lots during their hiring process.

Abel seeks statutory damages in the amount of $100 and $1,000 for each job applicant whose rights under the FCRA were allegedly violated by Big Lots. Additionally, he seeks punitive damages for the practice. The Big Lots class action lawsuit does not indicate how numerous the Class may be.

Big Lots is a national retail discount chain that was founded in 1967. The company’s headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio. According to its website, the retail chain operates more than 1,400 stores in 48 states. Big Lots’ annual revenues are close to $5 billion.

Big Lots joins several other retailers who have been hit with class actions accusing them of FCRA violations. Whole Foods Market Inc., Dollar General Corp., Michaels Craft Stores, and Publix Super Markets have all been hit with claims over alleged FCRA violations. Additionally, a similar putative class action alleging the same violation of the FCRA was filed against Big Lots in the Circuit Court of Cook County, Ill. in July of this year as well.

Whole Foods recently agreed to settle a class action lawsuit pending in Florida federal court. Dollar General and Publix also both agreed to settle the FCRA class action lawsuits filed against them.

Abel is represented by Peter Winebrake, R. Andrew Santillo and Mark J. Gottesfeld of Winebrake & Santillo LLC.

The Big Lots FCRA Class Action Lawsuit is Aaron Abel v. Big Lots Stores Inc., Case No. 151100286, in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas.

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