Prospective Employee Claims Peach State Federal Credit Union Failed to Provide Copy of Background Report
by Erin Shaak
Last Updated on September 25, 2020
Oliver v. Peach State Federal Credit Union
Filed: September 16, 2020 ◆§ 1:20-cv-03842
A job applicant claims Peach State Federal Credit Union failed to provide him with a copy of his background report and an explanation of his rights before rescinding a job offer.
A job applicant claims in a proposed class action that Peach State Federal Credit Union failed to provide him with a copy of his background report and an explanation of his rights before rescinding a job offer based on the contents of the report.
Alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the 11-page lawsuit out of Georgia claims the defendant, which was formerly known as Gwinnett Federal Credit Union, has harmed as many as hundreds, “if not thousands,” of employment applicants by failing to provide them with an opportunity to correct inaccurate information in their background reports before taking adverse action.
“This is one of the most fundamental protections afforded to employees under the FCRA,” the complaint states, stressing that the federal law requires employers provide a prospective employee with a copy of their background report and a written description of their FCRA rights before taking an adverse action against them based “in whole or in part” on a consumer report.
“The purpose of this requirement,” the suit continues, “is to allow prospective and current employees to know the complete personal information that is being reported about them, and to allow them an opportunity to clear up any inaccuracies or misstatements in the report and to address any misunderstandings the report may have created for the employer before the employer receives a supposedly ‘verified’ report from a third-party agency.”
The plaintiff says Peach State Federal Credit Union confirmed with him on August 14, 2020 that he had accepted a help desk support specialist position at its Lawrenceville, Georgia office. Per the complaint, the man was informed that his start date would be August 18, with his employment contingent on a successful background check.
According to the case, however, the plaintiff received an email from the defendant on August 18 in which he learned the credit union was rescinding its job offer based on the results of his background check, which had been obtained from Vericon Resources.
The plaintiff claims the defendant failed to provide him with a copy of his consumer report and a written description of his rights before taking adverse action against him, as well as an opportunity to dispute the information contained in the report.
Days later, the plaintiff received a copy of his consumer report directly from Vericon Resources and discovered the report contained inaccurate information appearing to link him to a criminal record “that did not belong to him,” the suit says.
The lawsuit alleges the defendant’s failure to provide “pre-adverse action notice” leaves the subjects of the background reports “without any meaningful opportunity” to review the information being reported about them and correct any errors before losing their job or job prospect.
The plaintiff looks to represent the following proposed class:
“All natural persons residing within the United States and its Territories about whom, (i) beginning five years prior to the filing of this Complaint and continuing through the conclusion of this action, (ii) were the subject of a consumer report used by Peach State Federal Credit Union f/k/a Gwinnett Federal Credit Union for employment purposes; (iii) were the subject of an adverse action by Peach State Federal Credit Union f/k/a Gwinnett Federal Credit Union based in whole or in part based on a consumer report, and (iv) were not provided with a copy of the report and/or a written summary of their rights under the FCRA.”
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