Waffle House Violated Fair Credit Reporting Act, Lawsuit Says

A recent lawsuit has been filed against Waffle House by a man who alleges the restaurant improperly used background check information conducted for employment purposes.

The lawsuit states that Waffle House violated Fair Credit Reporting Act provisions that ultimately led to the plaintiff not being rehired for employment at the restaurant.

Allegations That Waffle House Violated Fair Credit Reporting Act

Plaintiff William J. filed the lawsuit in October 2015 against Waffle House with claims that the restaurant failed to rehire him when he applied for employment in 2015 based on information contained in his background check that revealed criminal activity.

According to William, Waffle House did not tell him that a background check would be conducted as part of the employment process.

He also states that waffle house did not give him the proper notifications as required by law that an employer is supposed to provide applicants, and this violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, employers must provide potential applicants with a variety of notices.

William said in his lawsuit that he was not given the required preauthorization notices that disclosed that Waffle House would be conducting background checks.

This notice must appear separately from the job application itself where it may be easily overlooked by the applicant.

Employers who deny employment to potential employees based on the results of a background check must provide the job applicant with an adverse-action notice.

This will give job applicants a copy of their background check as well as a document titled “A Summary of Your Rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act,” published by the FTC.

Additionally, job applicants who have had negative information show up on their background check should receive the name and contact information of the reporting agency that was responsible for performing the background check for the employer.

This is done so job applicants can dispute any potentially inaccurate information contained in the background check.

If employers are alleged to have violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act, job applicants can file background check lawsuits against the company and can receive up to $1000 in statutory damages, as well as other remedies.

Williams alleged that Waffle House violated Fair Credit Reporting Act provisions by failing to provide him with a copy of his background check and failing to provide him with the FTC document, “A Summary of Your Rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.”

Taking Legal Action Against Waffle House

If you applied to work at Waffle House and feel that Waffle House violated Fair Credit Reporting Act provisions, you may be eligible to take legal action against the restaurant.

If you had a background check conducted as part of your employment application for Waffle House restaurant since October 2010 and were subsequently denied employment or fired from your job, you may be able to join a class action lawsuit investigation that seeks to determine if Waffle House violated Fair Credit Reporting Act provisions.

The Waffle House Background Check Class Action Lawsuit is is Jones v. Waffle House, Inc. et al, Case No. 6:15-cv-01637-RBD-DAB, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Orlando Division.