Can an Investigation into Employee Misconduct be Considered a "Consumer Report?"
Four portfolio managers of Allstate suspected of "suspicious trading" were fired after an internal investigation was conducted and unearthed email evidence that the managers might be timing trades to inflate their bonuses at the expense of the portfolios. The former portfolio managers then claimed Allstate violated the FCRA and sued the company for defamation and violation of the FCRA. The initial plaintiffs were awarded statutory damages, punitive damages, and attorney fees
Update: The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recognizes some might find providing the addendum to be less burdensome than changing your existing forms, we also wanted to provide our clients with an alternative. To recap, this addendum should be provided to the consumer whenever the Summary has been provided, which is outlined in subsection 609 of the FCRA. Subsection 609 of the FCRA states the Summary of Your Rights Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act should be provided to the c
Accurately Reported Enrollment & Degree Data is not Adverse Information
The Court has held that, "as a matter of law, []college attendance dates and degree-conferral status are not ‘adverse information’ under the plain language of section 1681c(a)(5).” In Jenkins v. Carco Group the plaintiff alleged in a punitive class action law suit that by reporting negative information about her educational history when she had attended more than seven years ago was a violation of the FCRA. In section 1681c(a)(1)-(6) the FCRA provides categories that are prec
The Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act
If ever you see something in the news, or an email from us, indicating there has been some change to the FCRA, the Fair Credit Report Act, it would seem easy to dismiss. If your company is not interested in credit history maintained by the credit bureaus as a part of your background check process, then why would changes to the FCRA effect you? But the FCRA governs so much more than just a credit report. The FCRA is the legislation that governs information collected by a CRA,
Procedural FCRA Violation
There are three requirements for Article Three of the United States Constitution, which are the requirements that a plaintiff has the standing to sue. They are as follows: Injury-in-fact, Causation, and Redressability The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has held Article III standing that procedural violations of the FCRA do not constitute actual harm and therefore do not meet the first requirement of injury-in-fact. The court cited the Supreme Court and itself in prior decision
Northern District of AL Awarded Over $3mil to Plaintiff in Lawsuit Against Experian
A civil suit filed in the Northern District of Alabama, Younger v. portfolio Recovery Associates LLC et al., alleging Experian violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by failing to establish or follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy in the preparation of the credit report and credit files they publish and maintain was decided in favor of the Plaintiff last month, with the Plaintiff being awarded $3,005,000. By their own admission, Experian does not in
CRA Not Liable for Customer's Misuse of i
The Ninth Circuit decided that a CRA is not liable for misuse of information by a customer. An article by Troutman Sanders states: On May 29, the Ninth Circuit ruled that an end-user’s misuse of reported information does not render a credit reporting agency’s report inaccurate for purposes of liability under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The Court affirmed the district court’s grant of summary judgment in the putative class action case brought against a national credit rep
Avis to Pay $2.7 Mil for Alleged FCRA Violations
June 9th, 2015 Avis was hit was a class action lawsuit over alleged FCRA Violations. The lead plaintiff, Angela Fuller, states she was denied a position with Avis based off a background check that she never received until after she was denied the position and that Avis did not provide Fuller with a standalone disclosure. The car rental company agreed to $2.7 million in a settlement. Please read more here: Avis Settles FCRA Background Check Lawsuit for $2.7 Million | The Consu
Syed v M-I, LLC
The Ninth Circuit held that the inclusion of a liability waiver in the same document as the disclosure required by the FCRA is a violation. The Ninth Circuit, which controls only Alaska, Arizona, California, and Hawaii, has held that the inclusion of a liability waiver as a part of a background check disclosure form is a willful violation of the FCRA. A willful violation that results in injury, which is "concrete, particularized and actual or imminent; fairly traceable to th
Data Breach Class Action May Proceed on Basis of FCRA Violation Alone
The US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit has ruled data breach class action law suits may proceed on the basis of a violation alone and that "injury" is presumed by the breach itself. This is a reversal of the decision by the US Court for the District of New Jersey, which initially dismissed the complaint citing they could not sue under Article III of the US Constitution because the information. The information had been stolen, but not necessarily used, and therefore not