Dollar General (actually its legal entity name, Dolgencorp, LLC) has agreed to settle for just over $4 million ̶ the lawsuit that was filed by plaintiffs, Jonathan Marcum and Jackie E. Lewis, Sr. (subject to Court approval following notice to the Settlement Class Members and once a subsequent court hearing has occurred). This settlement is for the proposed class action lawsuit, alleging the company violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) when it conducted employee background checks. The FCRA is the federal law that governs employee background checks, and it imposes very specific disclosure requirements upon employers.
Although Dollar General denies any liability or wrongdoing, it has agreed, in a proposed settlement that was filed on October 16, 2014, to create a $4.08 million settlement fund to satisfy claims for an estimated class of more than 100,000 job applicants, who allegedly did not receive proper FCRA employee screening disclosures.
This case is just another example of how plaintiff attorneys are preying upon employers, for alleged violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The reality is the FCRA is very complicated, and even many employment lawyers are not experts in the FCRA. This is due to the plethora of regulations that impact employment law, resulting in labor lawyers to typically focus on a specific spectrum of these myriad of regulations, which frequently does not include the complexities of the FCRA.
Working with a reputable and reliable background screening company can help mitigate the legal liability that comes from not providing proper, updated FCRA employee screening disclosures. Unfortunately, too many companies seek out the low-cost employee screening provider, making them easy prey for attorneys that seek out cases where proper employee screening disclosures are not being provided.
Posted by: Rudy Troisi. President, Reliable Background Screening.
