The plaintiff in the proposed class action, Danielle Miceli, was initially hired as a barista in July 2010 but it was only after she applied for a promotion to shift supervisor in October of 2011 that she claims Coffee Bean illegally obtained a background check on her for employment purposes. Miceli subsequently left Coffee Bean in June 2014.
Miceli’s accusations – that the coffee house chain “has a policy and practice of failing to provide adequate written disclosures to applicants and employees, before procuring consumer reports or causing consumer reports to be procured,” – would constitute a violation of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act as well as the California Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act and Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act since the Coffee Bean also failed to provide a disclosure allowing prospective employees to request a copy of their own credit report at no charge.
These claims echo similar complaints lodged against other national chains such as Dollar Tree and Food Lion in recent months. This recent spate of similar class-action lawsuits demonstrates the enduring importance of ensuring companies are securing consumers’ written authorization prior to conducting background checks and providing those same individuals with clear and conspicuous disclosures forms, on a document that consists solely of that disclosure, that the company may obtain a consumer report for employment purposes.
Source: Law360, 5/22/2015
Posted: June 2, 2015