A federal court in the Northern District of California refused the Defendant’s request for dismissal in the case of Lagos v. The Leland Stanford Junior University.  The Plaintiff, Thomas Lagos, alleges that the background check disclosure form he viewed and signed as part of the employer’s application process contained extraneous information. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the disclosure must be in a document consisting “solely of the disclosure”. Lagos claims that Stanford’s disclosure included notices from 7 different states, informing applicants of their rights under those laws.

Stanford argued that the inclusion of the state law notices provides applicants with important information about their rights and contributes to the required disclosure. The court, however, found that they only served to provide the applicant with information about their rights under those state laws and not the FCRA, creating a facially plausible claim that Stanford willfully violated the FCRA.

Non-compliance with the requirement that the disclosure be a standalone document has been cited in the majority of FCRA related lawsuits. Employers should review their background check program frequently to ensure it meets FCRA requirements. Hire Image provides compliance reviews to help uncover problems with forms and processes that could be putting you at risk. Contact us today to schedule a free compliance review.