This practice – prohibited under the FCRA – does not afford job seekers the opportunity to dispute or correct any erroneous information found on their background check before companies make hiring decisions.
In this particular instance the plaintiff, Gregory Williams, was disqualified from a position with Amazon through the staffing company after a procured background check revealed a misdemeanor for an open container and a felony for cocaine possession, the latter of which was incorrectly attributed to Williams. While the misdemeanor charge would not have eliminated him from consideration for the position, the falsely ascribed felony disqualified him, and since he was never provided a copy of the results of the check Williams had no opportunity to have the information corrected.
The proposed class action seeks to cover all Amazon applicants over the past five years who did not receive a copy of their background check, along with a class of individuals who were placed into jobs by Staff Management Solutions.
Source: Law360.com, 4/9/2015
Posted: May 7, 2015