We have extensive and industry-leading experience litigating consumer reporting and background screening cases under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). We have served as counsel to consumer reporting agencies in more than 1,500 cases nationwide, including more than 100 FCRA class actions and more than 35 background screening class actions, involving every provision of the FCRA intersecting with the background screening process.
The background screening process is a critical component of modern-day hiring, with employers facing the difficult situation of being subject both to potential liability both for failing to conduct background screenings, as well as for potential liability based on the background screening process itself. Increased regulatory attention to this area of law, coupled with an active and changing litigation environment, has made maintaining compliance with the FCRA and related state background screening laws a difficult task.
Among other regulatory constraints, critical to the background screening process are the various notice and disclosure requirements that are imposed by the FCRA and analogous state laws. The forms of notice themselves, as well as the timing of such notices, are also the subject of frequent litigation. Additionally, state and federal law often circumscribes what public-record information can be considered by an employer during the screening process.
We are frequently called upon by users, furnishers, and consumer reporting agencies to defend actions under all of the substantive provisions of the FCRA, including those related to matching procedures, permissible purposes for accessing information, obsolete information, consumer disclosures, forms of notice to consumers, consumer disputes, and reinvestigations. We also have assisted clients who do not consider themselves to be acting as consumer reporting agencies, but against whom FCRA claims have been asserted. Additionally, we have a strong tradition in FCRA compliance counseling, including FCRA audits. We utilize this compliance knowledge to strengthen our clients’ regulatory positions, both before and after litigation.
Within the background screening industry, we have represented “wholesalers” and “resellers” of consumer information, background screening companies themselves, and employers, including in the context of background screenings for both private and public employment positions.
In the context of background screening class actions, we have substantial experience in dealing with the class-related issues under Rule 23 of the Federal Rules, such as class certification motions, numerosity, the existence and predominance of common questions of law and fact, typicality, adequacy, and superiority, as well as in the administration of class settlements.
Class Actions
Individual Actions