The plaintiff received the email on Sept. 17 after applying for a customer service position with TeleTech, a leading provider of customer solutions. The email informed the plaintiff, Anthony Cox, that “the results of the pre-employment screening make you ineligible for hire are this time. . . . If there was a finding on your criminal background screening that makes you ineligible for hire with TeleTech, you will receive a notification from our third party vendor as well as an explanation of your rights in regards to this decision.” The email went on to explain that his offer of employment was rescinded and that he was no longer eligible for the position and did not include a copy of his consumer report.
TeleTech typically uses a third-party consumer reporting agency to handle their pre- and final-adverse action notices and claims they had no idea the email was a part of their hiring process, let alone who wrote it.
Believing that a conviction was wrongly attributed to him, Cox reached out to TeleTech’s third-party vendor directly to dispute the information. The report was eventually corrected to remove an erroneous charge and TeleTech re-offered the plaintiff the position, only later reverse course and re-rescind the offer due to the plaintiff’s failure to submit his I-9 form.
TeleTech asserts the Cox’s application was simply “on hold” until his dispute was resolved and that his job offer had not been rescinded. Since the initial email informed the applicant he would be receiving a copy of his report and offered instructions on how to go about correcting any information thought to be inaccurate Teletech claims the email served as a pre-adverse action notice.
However, the court ruled that TeleTech’s initial email, which included such phrases as “ineligible for hire,” “rescinding” the job offer and wishing the plaintiff “the best of luck in your career search,” suggested the email was tantamount to a final adverse action notice and that TeleTech violated the FCRA by sending it. The court’s harangue went on to claim that TeleTech’s form email, which had been sent to hundreds of applicants before the company ever became aware of its existence, demonstrated the company “apparently had no systematic policy or procedure to ensure it complied with the FCRA,” thereby exhibiting a “reckless disregard” for the company’s FCRA responsibilities.
Source: Wolters Kluwer, 02/11/2015 & Strasburger & Price, L.L.P., 03/03/2015
Posted: March 23, 2015