The Risks in Background Checks
Current Trends in FCRA Litigation - The Consumer Finance Podcast
AGG Talks: Background Screening - Ban the Box and Fair Chance Hiring Laws: The Year in Review
AGG Talks: Background Screening - Redaction of Identifiers by the Courts Update, Breaking News from California
AGG Talks: Background Screening - Redaction of Identifiers by the Courts in Michigan and California Pose Challenges for Background Checks
Employers typically expend a great deal of effort on application processes, in order to make an informed hiring decision and to avoid hiring unsuitable candidates who quit or are fired after a short time....more
On March 14, 2024, the Massachusetts House of Representatives passed legislation that would add a new provision to the Massachusetts Consumer Protection law and would bar the use of true credit reports for employment...more
For nearly a decade, Chicago has maintained a “ban-the-box” ordinance restricting employer’s use of criminal records in employment screening. This ordinance largely mirrored the requirements of Illinois’ state-wide Job...more
Student safety and security is of paramount importance in independent schools. While the goal of a hiring process is primarily to find the best candidate for the position, it is imperative that schools craft policies and...more
On January 23, 2023, the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) held a public hearing on updated proposed rules to implement the city’s automated employment decision tools (AEDT) law (Local Law...more
On April 4, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit joined the Ninth Circuit in holding that a plaintiff lacked Article III standing to prosecute her statutory claims under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)...more
Changes to Philadelphia law will further restrict employers’ use and reliance on applicant, current employee, and independent contractor background information and affect the employee application and employee management...more
How to Hire a Super Hero - An employer subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and state “mini-FCRA” laws, which are generally more restrictive than the FCRA, can obtain investigative consumer reports, i.e.,...more
The case law surrounding the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) is ever-changing, and staying up to date on certain, key statutory definitions is a core compliance task for any company subject to the FCRA....more
The Ninth Circuit recently issued two mostly pro-employer federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) background check decisions that held: ..background check disclosures may contain some concise explanatory language, but...more
Many employers use background checks to guarantee it hires the best candidates—and to minimize legal liability for claims like negligent hiring. Unfortunately, this attempt to prevent one type of liability may...more
The CFPB announced that it will host a public workshop with the FTC on December 10, 2019 to discuss issues affecting the accuracy of both traditional credit reports and employment and tenant background screening reports....more
Immediately following the close of the 2019 legislative session, this blog released a summary of the three new bills that could impact your workforce. One of those bills, the “Criminal Record Screening Practices (Ban the...more
A federal court’s recent decision demonstrates the value in reviewing all documents related to the independent contractor background screening process to attempt to solidify potential defenses to expansive class-action...more
The roller coaster of employer liability under the background check provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) recently took an upswing with the California Court of Appeals’ decision in Culberson v. Walt Disney Parks...more
Since 2011, the number of Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) lawsuits filed annually has continued to climb. The data demonstrates that employers struggle with compliance, especially regarding the FCRA’s disclosure...more
Two weeks ago, the U.S Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit held in Gilberg v. California Check Cashing Stores, LLC that a federal background check disclosure form that also included state law notices violated the Fair...more
The time to act is now. Employers should take a look at their background check forms in light of a recent ruling of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit that state disclosures cannot be combined with the...more
Almost two years ago to the day, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit became the first appellate court to rule on the lawfulness of a liability waiver in a Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) disclosure. ...more
On November 29, 2018, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decision in Mitchell v. Winco Foods, No. 17-35998, 2018 U.S. App. LEXIS 33483 (9th Cir. Nov. 29, 2018); a Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) case on appeal...more
Effectively immediately, employers who perform background checks on applicants or employees using third party consumer reporting agencies (these background checks are known as “consumer reports”)...more
A little-known provision of a new federal law will likely impact the hiring process of most employers. On September 12, 2018, without seeking any public comment and with no advanced notice, the Consumer Financial Protection...more
As of September 21, 2018, employers who use third-party vendors to obtain background checks must utilize an updated version of the “Summary of Your Rights” disclosure as required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). With...more
Employers that use criminal record-screening policies must continue to be vigilant about compliance with all applicable laws and should know that the EEOC’s scrutiny of such policies, while perhaps scaled back, has not ended....more
The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) provides protections for persons subject to “consumer reports” provided by third parties, including criminal background and credit checks mandated by employers. The employee or...more