Waffle House Lawsuit Challenges Use of Background Reports

Rejected applicants for jobs at Waffle House say the way the restaurant chain uses background reports violates the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

In an ongoing Waffle House lawsuit, named plaintiff William Jones seeks to represent an entire Class of five years’ worth of persons subject to adverse employment actions by Waffle House because of the contents of their background reports.

Jones says he applied for a job at Waffle House in December 2014. He alleges Waffle House procured a background report on him. Though Jones says he never got a copy of the report, he believes the report could have contained information about prior criminal convictions.

After acquiring this report, he says, Waffle House rejected his application for employment.

Jones says he never got a copy of the background report and never had a chance to challenge its contents for truthfulness or accuracy. He believes that report contained inaccurate information that he could have corrected if he had been given a chance to do so.

Waffle House Lawsuit Alleges FCRA Violations

Jones alleges Waffle House failed to give the Class Members notice of the contents of their background reports and an opportunity to correct or challenge any erroneous information contained within them, as required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act, or FCRA.

According to Jones’s Waffle House lawsuit, the restaurant chain makes employment decisions based in part on background reports from a company called PublicData, which Jones describes as “a shady, off-shore consumer reporting agency.”

He says PublicData provides “slipshod” reports for pennies on the dollar and disclaims any obligation to comply with the FCRA.

PublicData reportedly holds itself out as a sort of governmental watchdog, providing access to public records through the Freedom of Information Act, according to Jones. All the while, the company reportedly claims it is “not a consumer reporting agency, does not sell consumer reports, and is not subject to the FCRA.”

Jones argues the background reports provided by Public Data constitute consumer reports that are subject to the requirements of the FCRA.

He says that under the FCRA, an employer who seeks to take an adverse employment action based on the contents of such a report must provide the employee or applicant with a “pre-adverse action notice,” including a copy of the background report.

After the employer takes the adverse action, it must then provide a separate “post-adverse action” notice, which informs the applicant or employee of their rights to dispute the contents of the report.

Jones’s Waffle House lawsuit alleges the chain and PublicData failed to satisfy these requirements not just in Jones’ case but in the cases of thousands of Waffle House applicants and employees.

He seeks a declaration by the court that Waffle House’s and PublicData’s practices are in violation of the FCRA. He also seeks an award of damages, reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs of litigation, with pre- and post-judgment interest.

The Waffle House Lawsuit is Jones v. Waffle House Inc., et al., Case No. 6:15-cv-01637, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida.

Join a Free Waffle House Background Check Class Action Lawsuit Investigation

If at anytime since October 2010 you were denied employment at a Waffle House restaurant because of a background check, you may qualify to participate in a Waffle House background check class action lawsuit. It’s absolutely free to participate, so act now!

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