NEMF Background Check Class Action Lawsuit Settlement Approved

A federal judge has granted final approval to an $870,500 class action lawsuit settlement between New England Motor Freight and job applicants who accused the trucking company of performing illegal background checks. Class Members who submitted a valid claim by the deadline stand to receive up to $800 from the class action settlement.

Lead plaintiff Leonard Smith alleged in the New England Motor Freight class action lawsuit that NEMF had violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act in the course of his job application process. Since he had not consented to the human resources department reviewing his economic activity, he and his class action attorneys believed that the company had been in the wrong.

The NEMF background check class action settlement comes at a time when the federal judge handling the case was reportedly considering a motion to certify the class. Instead, according to the order, there will be two groups who will receive payments from the NEMF class action settlement. The settlement class consists of all people who applied to work for the company and “about whom NEMF procured a consumer report and/or relied upon or used a consumer report in connection with the Class Members’ application for employment with NEMF.”

A further sub-class will consist of all those who meet the above conditions but were also denied employment “in part or whole because of the reports’ contents.” Of the $870,500 total class action settlement amount, up to $333 will go to each Class Member depending on how many claimants filed a valid claim by the deadline of April 15, 2014. Those who are members of the sub-class alleging violations of the Fair Credit Act may be able to receive up to $800.

Regarding the rest of the funds, up to $200,ooo may go towards cy pres distributions, or legal donations. The recipients would be the National Consumer Law Center and the Fair Share Housing Center.

The deadline to file a claim for the NEMF background check class action settlement was April 15. Unfortunately, Top Class Actions was not notified of the settlement until it had passed. More information on the case can be found at www.NEMFClassAction.com.

The plaintiffs are represented by class action attorneys James A. Francis and Erin Amanda Novak of Francis & Mailman PC.

The NEMF Background Check Class Action Lawsuit is Leonard Smith v. New England Motor Freight Inc., Case No. 12-cv-03559, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.