Class Action Lawsuits Challenging FCRA Disclosure Forms Get Multi-District Treatment

On April 9, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ordered that three putative nationwide class actions against Michaels Stores Inc. be centralized in New Jersey.  The actions accuse Michaels Stores of violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA") by failing to properly notify job applicants that the company would access their credit reports.

Federal lawsuits are currently pending against Michaels Stores in New Jersey, Texas, and Missouri.  The U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation said that the federal suits involve common questions over the arts and crafts retailer's online job applications and that centralizing the cases for pretrial proceedings would be most convenient for the parties and witnesses and would "promote the just and efficient conduct of the litigation."  The Panel noted that "[c]entralization will eliminate duplicative discovery on potentially complex factual inquiries such as the willfulness of defendant's conduct;