On June 9, 2015, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area filed this nationwide class action against the Hertz Corporation and Sterling Infosystems, Inc., on behalf of the plaintiff and all similarly situated applicants. The plaintiffs alleged that Hertz and Sterling systematically violated federal law based on the way they conducted criminal background checks of Hertz job applicants.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), employers must provide job applicants with a clear written disclosure in a standalone form and get job applicants' express written consent before conducting a background check. The FCRA also requires that, before denying or revoking a job offer based on background check results, employers must provide the applicant with a copy of the background check and a statement of rights under the FCRA, and give the applicant a reasonable amount of time to respond to the accuracy of the report. Hertz never provided the plaintiffs with a disclosure that it may obtain consumer reports and did not receive the plaintiffs' authorization for such reports.

The plaintiffs sought injunctive and declaratory relief, damages, and attorneys' fees on behalf of himself and others similarly situated. The parties apparently participated in a settlement discussion in June 2015, but we have no record of whether they reached a settlement. The case was voluntarily dismissed by the plaintiff on August 24, 2015.

Sarah Prout - 09/05/2015
Anna Jones - 10/11/2015


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