$3.2M GIS Background Check Class Action Settlement Approved

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On Tuesday, a Pennsylvania federal judge gave final approval to a settlement that will resolve two class action lawsuits alleging General Information Services Inc. violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by providing pre-employment reports with adverse information that was more than seven years old.

U.S. District Judge Petrese Tucker approved the FCRA class action settlement, which will offer benefits to more than 53,000 Class Members. “The Settlement Agreement was arrived at as a result of arms-length negotiations conducted in good faith by counsel for the parties after sufficient discovery,” the judge wrote. She also noted that there were few objections to the GIS background check settlement.

Plaintiff Shamara T. King filed the first GIS background check class action lawsuit in 2010. This summer, it was consolidated for settlement purposes with a FCRA class action lawsuit that was filed in California state court in 2012 by plaintiffs Natalie Dowell and Lee Clark.

Class Members of the GIS background check settlement include anyone who received GIS reports for employment purposes, for Eid Passport or for the United States Postal Inspection Service between Nov. 23, 2008 and Jan 8. 2014 that contained non-conviction count information.

General Information Services has been hit with several FCRA class action lawsuits over its background check practices. This summer, the company agreed to settle a class action lawsuit that alleged its consumer reports included criminal records that had been expunged and that it failed to mail notices to the consumers indicating it disseminated a background report that could have an adverse employment impact. Class Members will automatically receive benefits from this GIS background check settlement if they qualify.

In May, GIS was hit with another FCRA class action lawsuit in Kentucky federal court alleging it incorrectly reports individuals who post bail for others as having been convicted of a crime.

Further information about this GIS background check 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.

King is represented by James A. Francis, Erin A. Novak, David Searles and John Soumilas of Francis & Mailman PC; Noah I. Axler of Donovan Axler LLC; and Janet F. Ginzberg and Michael G. Hollander of Community Legal Services. Clark and Dowell are represented by Devin Fok of the Law Offices of Devin H. Fok and Cynthia Chapman and Michael Caddell of Cadell & Chapman.

The General Information Services Background Check Class Action Lawsuits are King v. General Information Services Inc., Case No. 2:10-cv-06850, and Dowell, et al. v. General Information Services Inc., Case No. 2:14-cv-03412, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.