Background Screening Class Certified In Obsolete Information Case

On July 26, a Northern District of California judge certified a class of applicants who claimed that S2Verify, a background check company, included obsolete criminal information on their background reports in violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. In certifying the class, the Court found that the alleged harm was sufficient under the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Spokeo.

Plaintiff filed the proposed class action alleging that the background report provided to his prospective employer included past arrests that did not result in a conviction that were older than seven years, in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 1681c(a)(2). Plaintiff claimed that as a result of the obsolete information included in the report, he was denied employment with the company where he applied to be a security guard.