Extended Stay Hotel Background Check Class Action Filed in Calif.

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Plaintiff Yahaira Camacho has filed a class action lawsuit against ESA Management LLC, the operator of Extended Stay America Hotels, alleging the company obtained consumer reports on job applicants without their authorization, in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA).

ESA Management, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., operates an estimated 684 Extended Stay America hotels throughout the United States. According to the FCRA class action lawsuit, Camacho applied for a job at a California Extended Stay America hotel in July 2013.

Camacho alleges that ESA Management did not provide her with a written disclosure stating that her consumer report may be obtained for employment purposes and that the company did not ask her to authorize the company to obtain the report. “At each of its hotels, ESA Management obtains consumer reports for employment purposes without a valid disclosure and a valid, signed authorization as part of the application process,” the class action lawsuit says.

According to the FCRA class action lawsuit, ESA Management obtained background reports, which included results from a sex offender registry search and a criminal records search, for job applicants without first obtaining their written authorization to do so. Camacho alleges that ESA Management background check policy violates the FCRA, which requires companies to provide clear disclosures and obtain written authorization before obtaining consumer reports.

The job application reportedly included the following disclosure: “I authorize the investigation of all statements contained in this application and release from all liability any persons or employers supplying such information, and I also release Extended Stay Hotels from any liability that might result from making this investigation.”

Camacho’s class action lawsuit argues that this statement fails to comply with the FCRA for four reasons. First, it does not inform job applicants that a consumer report will be obtained. Second, it does not seek written authorization from the job applicant to obtain the consumer report. Third, the statement is included on the same page as numerous other statements instead of on a separate page that consists only of the disclosure and authorization that is required under the FCRA. Finally, the statement includes language that releases the defendant from liability.

By filing the background check class action lawsuit, Camacho seeks to represent all individuals who applied for work with an Extended Stay America hotel in the United States, and for whom a consumer report was obtained as part of the employment application process in the last five years.

The class action lawsuit indicates that Class Members are entitled to recover statutory damages of “not less than $100 and not more than $1,000” pursuant to the terms of the FCRA.

Camacho is represented by Timothy D. Cohelan, Isam C. Khoury, Michael D. Singer and Kimberly D. Neilson of Cohelan Khoury & Singer, and Sahag Majarian II of Law Offices of Sahag Majarian II.

The Extended Stay Hotels FCRA Class Action Lawsuit is Yahaira Camacho, et al. v. ESA Management LLC, et al., Case No. 3:14-cv-01089, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California.