PepsiCo Subsidiary Reaches $1.2M Job Applicant Class Action Settlement

Top Class Actions’s website and social media posts use affiliate links. If you make a purchase using such links, we may receive a commission, but it will not result in any additional charges to you. Please review our Affiliate Link Disclosure for more information.

According to court documents filed Wednesday in New York federal court, PepsiCo subsidiary Bottling Group LLC has agreed to pay $1.2 million to settle a class action lawsuit accusing the company of violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Plaintiff Altareek Grice filed the Pepsi class action lawsuit in June 2017 alleging he was not properly notified during the employee application process that he would be subjected to a consumer report.

Grice says he applied for a job at Bottling Group LLC, a PepsiCo subsidiary, in August 2016. According to the Pepsi class action lawsuit, the company failed to make the disclosure that a consumer report regarding Grice would be obtained for employment purposes in a document consisting solely of the disclosure, as required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

“Pepsi either knew or recklessly failed to know the disclosure requirements of [the FCRA] and that its acts in procuring or causing to be procured a consumer report regarding plaintiff and other class members without providing the required disclosure to them was facially contrary to the express language of [the act] and all administrative guidance available and violated the law,” Grice says in the Pepsi FCRA class action lawsuit.

FCRA violations may result in fines of $100 to $1,000 per violation, the PepsiCo class action lawsuit says.

Class Members of the proposed FCRA settlement include anyone for whom a consumer report for employment purposes was procured by Bottling Group LLC, Grayhawk Leasing LLC or New Bern Transport Co:

• During the period from June 19, 2015 through Dec. 1, 2016 for job applicants;
• During the period from June 19, 2015 through Sept. 4, 2017 for employees subject to Department of Transportation background checks; and
• During the period from June 19, 2015 through Oct. 2, 2017 for all other employees.

An estimated 23,133 consumers qualify as Class Members of the PepsiCo FCRA settlement.

Under the terms of the proposed FCRA class action settlement, Class Members will receive a pro rata share of the settlement fund. It is expected that eligible claimants will receive a payment of at least $30.73, but the actual amount will depend on the total number of approved claims.

Grice has asked a New York federal judge to preliminarily approve the FCRA class action settlement because the parties engaged in arm’s length negotiation to reach the settlement terms, which he says are fair, adequate and reasonable.

Top Class Actions will post updates to this class action settlement as they become available. For the latest updates, keep checking TopClassActions.com or sign up for our free newsletter. You can also receive notifications when this article is updated by using your free Top Class Actions account and clicking the “Follow Article” button at the top of the post.

Grice is represented by Marc R. Edelman of Morgan & Morgan PA, Peter R. Dion-Kindem of Peter R. Dion-Kindem PC, and by Lonnie C. Blanchard III of The Blanchard Law Group APC.

The PepsiCo Background Check Class Action Lawsuit is Altareek Grice v. Pepsi Beverages Co., et al., Case No. 1:17-cv-08853, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.