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Last week, another class action lawsuit alleging improper background checks on job applicants was filed in federal court in Texas against the retail craft supply chain Michaels Stores Inc.
Lead plaintiff, California resident Michele Castro, alleged in her class action lawsuit that she completed an online application with Michaels in January of last year. Castro alleges that as a result, Michaels obtained a credit report on her. However, she says that Michaels’ online application contains so much extra information it did not adequately notify her that the company would obtain her credit report.
The plaintiff argues that Michaels violated the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by burying notice that the company would obtain a credit report in the job application. “Defendant’s FCRA disclosure and authorization are embedded within an online employment application which appears as one long continuous Web page that applicants fill out, and which contains a liability release, among reams of other extraneous information,” the Michaels class action lawsuit alleges.
“Although the disclosure and the authorization may be combined in a single document, the FTC [Federal Trade Commission] has warned that the form should not include any extraneous information or be part of another document,” according to the FCRA class action lawsuit. “For example,” the plaintiff continues, “in response to an inquiry as to whether the disclosure may be set forth within an application for employment or whether it must be included in a separate document, the FTC stated: ‘The disclosure may not be part of an employment application because the language is intended to ensure that it appears conspicuously in a document not encumbered by any other information. The reason for requiring that the disclosure be in a stand-alone document is to prevent consumers from being distracted by other information side-by-side within the disclosure.’”
In December, a similar class action lawsuit was filed against Michaels Stores Inc. in New Jersey. In that FCRA class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs allege that the craft supply retailer neglected to properly inform job applicants that the company regularly performed background checks on potential employees during the application process, violating the FCRA and New Jersey state reporting laws. Michaels is also facing a similar class action lawsuit that was filed last month in Missouri.
The plaintiff in the Texas class action lawsuit seeks to represent a nationwide Class of job applicants who applied with Michaels over the past two years, a well as a Class of California residents in particular.
Michaels joins several other retailers who have been hit with class actions accusing them of FCRA violations. Whole Foods Market Inc., Dollar General Corp, and Publix Super Markets have all been hit. Whole Foods has a class action pending in Florida federal court. Dollar General and Publix both agreed to settle the class action lawsuits to the tune of $11 million.
Lead plaintiff, Michele Castro, is represented by E. Joe Kendall, Jody L. Rudman and Matthew R. Scott of TheKendall Law Group LLP.
The Texas Michaels Background Check Class Action Lawsuit is Castro v. Michaels Stores Inc., Case No. 3:15-cv-00276, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
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One thought on Another FCRA Class Action Lawsuit Crafted Against Michaels
I was asked online at Michael’s to complete a background check.