A proposed class-action lawsuit has been filed by civil rights lawyers against Hertz Corporation and their background screening provider. The lawsuit alleges Hertz did not gain consent from an applicant prior to running a background check, and then did not provide applicant an opportunity to dispute results from background check.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) mandates employers have applicants’ written consent prior to background check. The regulation also requires the employer to provide notice to the applicant if adverse action is taken. The adverse action notice must include copy of the background check, a dispute process and summary of rights. An employer may not make a final hiring decision before those things happen. The proposed lawsuit alleges that Hertz routinely rejects job applicants based on background checks that are never shown to the applicant.
Scrutiny of company hiring procedures has only increased over the years. This lawsuit highlights some basic steps of what employers need to be aware of when conducting background checks. Requesting consent in a stand-alone document and providing an applicant the information returned and time to dispute the results before making any hiring decisions is very important. By ignoring these steps you risk litigation.
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Hertz accused of unauthorized background checks on job applicants