Courtney Jorstad  |  November 26, 2014

Category: Labor & Employment

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Uber logo, uber ridesharing, Uber unfair competition class action lawsuitUber Technologies was hit with a class action lawsuit alleging it performs illegal background checks and violated federal law when it checks on drivers for its mobile-app that helps users find transportation, according to a Boston cabdriver.

Uber along with its subsidiary Rasier, LLC and Hirease, LLC, a company that performs background checks, was hit with the illegal background check class action lawsuit on Monday in California federal court by plaintiff Abdul Kadir Mohamed, who alleges that they violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act as well as credit reporting laws in both California and Massachusetts.

Mohamed claims that he had been employed by Uber as an “Uber Black” driver and wanted to become and “Uber X” driver. However, Uber said that he would have to get a new car.

In the Uber class action lawsuit, Mohamed says that in September he bought a new car for about $25,000 to comply with the Uber X requirements.

However, on Oct. 28, Mohamed says he received an email from “uberreports@hireease.com” saying that because of information from a consumer report from Hireease, Rasier was “unable to further consider” his proposal to become an Uber X driver.

In addition, around the same time that he received the email, “access to the Uber app on his phone, which previously enabled him to work as an Uber driver, was turned off.”

The email said that Mohamed had received a copy of the report “‘in accordance with the Fair Credit Reporting Act,'” but the Boston cabdriver says that this was not the case.

In addition to not receiving a copy of the consumer report, he also did not receive a “pre-adverse action notice,” giving him a chance to explain the contents of the consumer report in accordance with the FCRA, the Uber class action lawsuit states.

“On information and belief, defendants terminated plaintiff because Hireease’s consumer report concerning plaintiff indicated he had a minor criminal record that, in fact, stems from his seven children receiving much-needed Medicaid benefits,” Mohamed explains in his illegal background check class action lawsuit.

And now, because he was fired by Uber, he is left “without an alternative means of providing for his family, including his seven children.”

According to the Uber class action lawsuit, the credit reporting laws give businesses guidelines for how consumer background checks may be used for hiring or firing employees.

“Specifically, the statutes require that an employer first disclose its intent to use a background report in its hiring decision and must obtain the prospective employee’s written authorization to do so, and the employer’s disclosure must be ‘in a document that consists solely of the disclosure,'” Mohamed explains in the FCRA lawsuit.

In addition, because “misreported information can and does often lead to grave consequences for the job seeker,” businesses are supposed to provide a copy of the report to the subject, as well as a copy of the person’s rights under the federal law, and give each person “a reasonable opportunity to dispute the information” before there are “any adverse” decisions about the person’s employment.

The same rights are granted under the California law, where Uber is headquartered, and Massachusetts credit reporting laws, where Mohamed lives and works.

Also, under California law, employers are supposed to notify the person in writing that a consumer credit report is going to be performed. That notice is also supposed to include “the source of the report, and shall contain a box that the person may check off to receive a copy of the credit report.”

Mohamed claims that Uber and Rasier uses consumer reports for the purpose of employment and that the FCRA applies to them.

He “alleges that Uber and Rasier knowingly, voluntarily, and with the assistance of its counsel, executed a certification providing that it would comply with various provisions of the FCRA,” but that the companies “knowingly violated” the federal and state laws.

Mohamed is represented by Tina Wolfson, Robert Ahdoot, Theodore W. Maya and Bradley K. King of Ahdoot & Wolfson PC.

Counsel information for Uber, Rasier and Hirease was not immediately available.

The Uber Illegal Background Check Class Action Lawsuit is Mohamed v. Uber Technologies Inc et al., Case No. 3:14-cv-05200, in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California.

UPDATE: On May 30, 2017, following a $7.5 million settlement reached in April, plaintiffs in an Uber background check class action lawsuit dismissed their claims against Uber’s background check provider Hirease LLC. 

UPDATE 2: September 2017, the Uber background check class action settlement is now open. Click here to file a claim.

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13 thoughts onUber Hit With Illegal Background Check Class Action Lawsuit

  1. Top Class Actions says:

    UPDATE: On May 30, 2017, following a $7.5 million settlement reached in April, plaintiffs in an Uber background check class action lawsuit dismissed their claims against Uber’s background check provider Hirease LLC. 

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