Paul Tassin  |  November 9, 2017

Category: Labor & Employment

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Fred-MeyerThe background checks that Fred Meyer uses to screen potential employees fail to satisfy the requirements of federal consumer report laws, according to a job applicant from Oregon.

Plaintiff Daniel W. says he lost his job with defendant Fred Meyer because he never got a proper chance to dispute the contents of his background check report.

Daniel applied for a job with Fred Meyer in March 2017. After he was hired, he says, he was presented with three separate background check disclosures. Fred Meyer then solicited a consumer report on Daniel from General Information Services Inc.

In early April, Fred Meyer gave Daniel a copy of the report and a pre-adverse action notice. Daniel says the notice told him to address any issues about the report with General Information Services, not with Fred Meyer.

A few days later, he says, Fred Meyer fired Daniel. He now argues that by deferring any disputes about the report to General Information Services, Fred Meyer failed to give Daniel a meaningful opportunity to address any problems with the report before the company took adverse action against him based on the report’s contents.

Background check reports that employers use to evaluate job applicants often constitute “consumer reports” that are governed by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Under the FCRA, the employer must follow specific requirements for notifying the applicant about the nature of the report and for getting the applicant’s consent to procure the report.

According to Daniel, the disclosure must explain the applicant’s rights under the FCRA. The applicant has a right to get a copy of the report and to contest the information in the report before the employer makes an adverse employment decision based on the report’s contents.

The disclosure must be made in a document that consists only of the disclosure and does not contain information about other matters, Daniel says.

“Here, Defendant provides not one, but three disclosures, with each disclosure containing unnecessary, extraneous, and unlawful information,” the complaint says.

Daniel proposes to represent two plaintiff Classes. The Disclosure Class would cover all U.S. persons who applied for a job with Fred Meyer on or after Nov. 8, 2015 and for whom Fred Meyer procured a consumer report, and who received the same disclosures and authorizations that Daniel did.

The Adverse Action Class would cover all U.S. persons who were subject to an adverse employment action on or after Nov. 8, 2015 based at least in part on a consumer report procured by Fred Meyer, and who received a notice telling them to contact GIS rather than Fred Meyer.

He is asking for a court declaration that Fred Meyer’s actions constitute violations of the FCRA, and an injunction requiring Fred Meyer to stop the actions complained of and to provide proper disclosures, notices and summaries. He also seeks an award of damages, litigation expenses and attorney fees.

Daniel is represented by attorney Neil Weingart, in association with co-counsel Steven L. Woodrow and Patrick H. Peluso of Woodrow & Peluso LLC.

The Fred Meyer Background Check Disclosure Class Action Lawsuit is Case No. 3:17-cv-01791-YY, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.

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One thought on Fred Meyer Class Action Says Background Checks Violate FCRA

  1. Patric Lewis says:

    I can’t get a job because of background checks. My right’s were alienated and I can’t get remedy or be mad whole. I have never been convicted of any of the crimes on my background check and it haunts me! I lost everything after being kidnapped and robbed and held in the State of Indiana. Anyone want to help me out?

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