Experian Hit with Class Action Over Alleged Social Security Number Verification Issues

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

A proposed class action lawsuit alleges Experian Information Solutions has violated federal law by failing to implement reasonable measures to ensure the “maximum possible accuracy” of its consumer reports.

Want to stay in the loop on class actions that matter to you? Sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter here.

Specifically, the 16-page lawsuit says Experian has violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by falsely reporting a Virginia consumer’s Social Security number as “unverified” and failing to provide all of the data it possesses about those who request a “full file disclosure.”

According to the suit, Experian’s Social Security verification product is used by employers to confirm whether a prospective employee has a valid Social Security number (SSN), and it operates by searching Experian’s information database to determine if an applicant “matches” a SSN in the company’s records. Experian communicates the results to the employer, who then uses the data to inform hiring decisions, the case explains.

The plaintiff applied for a position with Walgreens in May 2021, the complaint relays. As part of the hiring process, Walgreens requested a background check on the woman from a third-party company, which in turn ordered an SSN verification search from Experian, the filing says.

As the lawsuit tells it, “Experian’s verification system failed badly” as it erroneously reported to the third party, and thus to Walgreens, that the plaintiff’s SSN did not “match” the one that the defendant had in its records. Even though the woman possesses a valid SSN and is authorized to work in the United States, she was deemed “ineligible” for employment at Walgreens because of Experian’s inability to verify her SSN, the suit reports.

The plaintiff, who had already been hired and worked a shift, was pulled aside and fired on her second day at Walgreens because of the third-party background check that marked her as “ineligible,” the case claims.

“[Shocked] and dismayed,” the plaintiff requested her full file disclosure from Experian in an attempt to understand why there had been a problem matching her SSN, the complaint says. Though the FCRA requires a consumer reporting agency to provide an individual with all the data it possesses about them, Experian “half-heartedly complied” with this obligation and supplied the woman with some information yet did not mention anything with regard to its failure to verify her SSN, the filing alleges.

The lawsuit argues that because the defendant “operates under the FCRA every day,” the company is well-aware of the law’s requirements. In fact, “Experian itself has repeatedly and publicly advised consumers of the real value and importance in obtaining and reviewing the content of their Experian file,” the suit says.

The lawsuit looks to represent:

“All natural persons residing in the Fourth Circuit (a) who Experian issued to a third party a report stating it was unable to verify the person’s SSN, (b) who later requested their consumer file from Experian, (c) within the two years preceding the filing of this action and during its pendency, and (d) to whom Experian provided a response that did not include any reference to the report regarding the person’s SSN.”

Get class action lawsuit news sent to your inbox – sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter here.