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A Virginia federal court is being asked to give preliminary approval for a $4 million class action settlement with Dollar General retail stores as well as class certification and approval for how the settlement will be administered in a class action lawsuit alleging that the retail chain conducted background checks on job applicants without complying with federal law.
This settlement agreement against Dollar General was filed by plaintiffs Jonathan Marcum and Jackie E. Lewis who alleged that the retail company had violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act because the Dollar General job applicants were sent outdated notices that a background check was performed.
The original Dollar General class action lawsuit was filed in February 2012 by Marcum who alleged that the retail company “willfully failed to comply with the pre-adverse action notification requirements of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) . . . prior to taking adverse employment action against him.”
An amended background check class action lawsuit was filed in October 2012, adding that Dollar General “willfully failed to comply with the disclosure and authorization requirements in [the FCRA] prior to obtaining a consumer report about him for employment purposes.”
This means that according to the FCRA, Dollar General was supposed to inform applicants that it planned to perform a background check on the applicants and obtain the applicants’ consent to the background check.
In addition, Dollar General was obligated to inform the applicants of the findings in the background checks before making a decision to either fire or not hire the applicant based on those findings. This includes a copy of the report and the rights of the applicant under the federal law.
Lewis was added as a plaintiff in the Dollar General background check class action lawsuit in February 2013.
Marcum and Lewis allege that “(a.) they were denied employment with the defendant because of their employment-purposed consumer report; (b.) either the adverse employment decision had been made before the plaintiffs received a copy of their report and summary of rights or the defendant did not provide these in a meaningful and reasonable time before this decision; and (c.) the Summary of Rights form defendant eventually sent was an outdated summary and not the current form required by both the [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau] and the [Federal Trade Commission].”
Even though Dollar General agrees to the class action settlement, the retail chain “denies any wrongdoing and any liability to plaintiffs or to the putative class members.”
Marcum and Lewis want two classes to be certified — one that will receive settlement money and one that won’t.
The one that won’t receive monetary compensation will benefit from an injunctive relief in which Dollar General will be required to update its background check notification policy that to ensure that it is in compliance with the federal law. This class is permitted to pursue damages on their own, but are not allowed to file an additional class action lawsuit.
The class that will be compensated monetarily will receive an average of $24 each. The most someone in this class will receive will be $53.
The total amount that will be paid by Dollar General is $4.08 million. Twenty-five percent of that will cover attorneys’ fees, settlement administrator fees and compensation for the class representatives.
The plaintiffs are represented by Leonard A. Bennett, Matthew J. Erausquin, Susan M. Rotkis and Casey S. Nash of Consumer Litigation Associates PC, and Christopher C. North and William L. Downing of The Consumer & Employee Rights Law Firm PC.
Dollar General is represented by David Neal Anthony, David Michael Gettings and John C. Lynch of Troutman Sanders LLP.
The Dollar General Class Action Lawsuit is Marcum v. Dolgencorp Inc., Case No. 3:12-cv-00108, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
UPDATE: Viewers are reporting that they have received checks from the Dollar General background check class action settlement. Congratulations to everyone who submitted claims and got PAID!
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33 thoughts onDollar General $4M Background Checks Settlement Reached
I received my settlement today $47 dollars I applied n was denied
Received a check in the mail on 4/9/15 for $47.28 in Florida.
my son got a check today for $47.28 IT SAYS PAYMENT NOTICE IN MARCUS V. DOLGENCORP,INC IS THIS FRAUD
I applied at dollar General years ago and just received a $47 check in the mail i almost thought it was some kind of scam, they didn’t hire me after my background check im a recovering addict and have had a pretty nasty background extra money is always nice
I have called several times to the number that was provided about this lawsuit!!!!! I’m really upset that a law firm would use my case to their advantage!! I was told I would receive two installments of the 53.00 payout,this has gone on too long!!! I STILL HAVE NOT BEEN PAID!!!! IS THEIR ANYONE ELSE LIKE ME? WHAT WILL IT TAKE TO RECEIVE SUCH A SMALL AMOUNT OF MONEY ,WHICH IM SURE THIS LAWFIRM GOT PAID VERY WELL!!! IM NOT DONE HERE! I DONT CARE IF IT IS ONE DOLLAR,YOU OWE ME MY PART!WOULDNT BE SO MAD,HOWEVER,I HAVE A RIGHT TO WHAT IS \LEGALLY\MINE! VERY UPSET IN DALLAS GA. I PLAN TO HAVE THE NEWS FOX 5 INVESTIGATE!!! IM TIRED OF THE RUN AROUND!!! BETTY
I didn’t know anything about this until I got my check today. I’m really upset with the lawyer who represented all the people and didn’t even notify me what was going on . 53 dollars ain’t shit think every one actually should of got alot more cause at the end of the day if I worked at that job fir a year I could of made at least over 10,000. Who knows how many years I could of worked also. Know what I’m saying? expecially it has to do with 200000 people. This is kinda of bigger thing then what they let dollar general get off with .
I wasn’t even going to take that job even if they offered it to me. i put in probably six apps that day and was offered a pretty good job on spot. 2years later i get a free check for $48. I will take it. I didn’t even know about this till today.
Agree 100%, I just got my check today and had no idea what it was for TIL I looked everything up.
I just received a 47.00 check Friday. I didn’t even know this was going on I was fired for an arrest on my record when I wasn’t charged, my charges were dropped.
I was included in this lawsuit… I was wondering what kind of settlement I’m entitled too. How much will I receive?
When will I receive my settlement. I was one of the people discriminated against. I was fired for the same reasons.
I want to know I am in the settilement.
I am trying to get in contact with you..
This is really sad. Manager said she would hire my daughter, who lives within walking distance, can work anytime, doesn’t have kids and has many years retail experience. Then the manager said a few days later that she couldn’t hire her because the “district manager wouldn’t let her”. The manager never gave my daughter any reason why, in fact she wouldn’t tell her why the district manager wouldn’t let her. No doubt something to do with the background check but my daughter has never been arrested, not even a speeding ticket so who knows. I hope the Plaintiffs win in this case but $24 isn’t worth the trouble of getting involved. Just don’t shop at Dollar General and let them go broke.
cause it was a credit report check that got her fired.
I believe it was stated that the daughter did not have a negative background. Additionally, since the daughter was not hired, she could not have been fired.
Wow. $24 for being illegally fired without cause after relying on the company to feed defendents’ families. Woohoo. (end of sarcasm)