Although the plaintiff, Robert L. Culberson II, was initially hired by Disney, he was later denied the position and told not to report to orientation after the company procured a background check for him. The report incorrectly reported that Culberson was convicted of battery in 2010, when in fact, he was convicted in 1998 and had the charge expunged in 2010. Culberson claims that both Disney and the consumer reporting agency they had contracted to run the background check failed to provide him with, not only a copy of his background report, but also the FCRA-mandated pre-adverse and final adverse action notices prior to denying him the position.
A California judge stated that despite Disney’s claim that company needs, rather than the information obtained on his background check, drove their decision not to employ Culberson , the multinational family entertainment and media enterprise could still be on the hook for the alleged FCRA violations. According to JDSupra, a “question of fact pertaining to whether or not Disney improperly relied on the information in Culberson’s consumer report, without following the procedures in the FCRA,” remained. In other words, if Culberson can prove that Disney violated the FCRA, his proposed class action can move forward.
Source: JDSupra, 1/28/2015
Posted: February 2, 2015