LinkedIn Reference Search Not Subject To Fair Credit Reporting Act

Finding that LinkedIn's "Reference Search" function was not subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), a Northern California federal district court dismissed a putative class action filed on behalf of job applicants who allegedly lost job opportunities as a result of information learned by employers through LinkedIn.

In Sweet v. LinkedIn Corporation, the plaintiff was initially informed that she was to be hired by a hospitality employer, but later learned that the employer changed its mind after checking the plaintiff's references. The plaintiff believed that the employer learned of these references through LinkedIn's "Reference Search" function, which allows paid subscribers to obtain information about an applicant's prior employers and other LinkedIn members who worked at the same company at the same time as an applicant. LinkedIn marketed the "Reference Search" function as a way for employers to obtain "trusted references," to "get the real story on any