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News and Announcements

Prison Operator GEO Accused of Fair Credit Act Breaches

Nov 3, 2015 / Media Coverage /
[Reproduced with permission from Daily Labor Report, 212 DLR A-1 (Nov. 3, 2015). Copyright 2015 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (800-372-1033) .] A private company that operates prisons, and a consumer background reporting firm are violating federal and state fair credit laws by not providing job applicants with timely notice of reports including criminal histories that are used to deny them employment, according to a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ( Keels v. GEO Grp. Inc. , E.D.N.Y., No. 15-6261, 10/30/15). The proposed class action...
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Geo Group Sued for Allegedly Violating Federal Background Check Law, According to Job Applicant’s Legal Team

Nov 2, 2015 / Press Release /
The Geo Group, Inc. (“Geo Group”), and Accurate Background, Inc. are accused in a new federal lawsuit of violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) during criminal background checks of Geo Group job applicants, the law firm Outten & Golden LLP announced today. Filed in New York federal court, the nationwide class action lawsuit on behalf of plaintiff Eric Keels, and all similarly situated applicants for employment with Geo Group, alleges that Geo Group and Accurate Background, Inc. failed to comply with the FCRA’s notice requirements before taking adverse actions against job...
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Ex-offenders still face illegal discrimination

Jul 11, 2015 / Media Coverage /
When Mayor de Blasio signed the Fair Chance Act this month, New York took a welcome step forward. The new law prohibits employers from inquiring about a job applicant’s criminal history before they have made a conditional offer. It bans the box — “check here if you have been convicted of a crime” — that is a symbol of permanent unemployment for so many. It does not prohibit employers from taking that history into consideration. It does, however, make sure that every job seeker gets a fair shot first. With this law, New York City is beginning to face its history of allowing employers to...
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U.S. Lawsuit Claims Companies Illegally Refused to Hire Ex-Cons

Jun 25, 2015 / Media Coverage /
Dozens of companies using recruiting websites violated New York City law by refusing to hire anyone with a felony record, affecting mostly black people, according to a lawsuit filed by the NAACP on Thursday. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People sued a class of companies it said were breaking city and state laws that bar businesses from refusing to consider former convicts for jobs. The lawsuit was filed in state court in Manhattan. Since New York's prison population was more than half black, the lawsuit argued, such policies served to keep many black people out of...
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Outten and Golden files criminal conviction suit on behalf of NAACP

Jun 25, 2015 / Press Release /
NAACP Files Suit Against a Class of New York Employers for Their Illegal Discrimination Against Ex-Offenders Employers Are Using Leading Job Search Sites to Post Job Listings with Illegal “Ex-Offenders Need Not Apply” Blanket Bans on Applicants with Felony Convictions The NAACP New York State Conference Metropolitan Council of Branches today filed a class action against employers who use leading job search sites Monster, Indeed, and ZipRecruiter to illegally post hundreds of job listings in New York with blanket bans on applicants with felony convictions. New York City law prohibits blanket...
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Class Action: Hertz Violated Federal Law When Denying Job Applicant

Jun 10, 2015 / Media Coverage /
The Hertz Corporation was hit with a class action lawsuit in a California federal court, alleging that it violated federal law by improperly using consumer reports to deny employment to job applicants. Plaintiff Peter Lee of California says in his Hertz class action lawsuit that he applied for a job with Hertz’s Dollar/Thrifty subsidiary at the San Francisco International Airport in May 2014, while he was working for a competitor in a similar position. Lee explains that he was arrested in June 2012 and charged with felony possession of a controlled substance for sale in connection with a gang...
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Hertz Faces Lawsuit for Alleged FCRA Violations

Jun 10, 2015 / Media Coverage /
A class action lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court claims Hertz Corporation and the Consumer Reporting Agency (CRA) providing background check reports to the rental car giant allegedly “acted willfully in violating the requirements” of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) when performing criminal background checks on job applicants. According to the 23-page complaint, in May 2014 the Plaintiff received a conditional offer of employment for a position with a Hertz-branched rental car location at the San Francisco International Airport. However, after being scheduled to begin working...
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Hertz Accused of Unauthorized Background Checks on Job Applicants

Jun 10, 2015 / Media Coverage /
Civil rights lawyers sued Hertz Corp. and its background-checks contractor on Tuesday, accusing them of blindsiding job applicants by looking up their criminal records and withholding or withdrawing job offers without giving them a chance to challenge the reports. A federal law, the Fair Credit Reporting Act, requires private employers to get applicants’ written consent before checking their criminal records or credit history, said lawyers in the suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco. When a report contains damaging information, the lawyers said, the employer must give...
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Hertz Accused of Violating Background Check Rules

Jun 10, 2015 / Media Coverage /
The Hertz Corp. faces a lawsuit alleging it has violated federal rules in handling background checks for its job applicants. The suit was filed Tuesday in San Francisco federal court against Hertz, its subsidiary Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc. and Sterling Infosystems Inc., a global provider of employment screening and background checks. Filed as a class action, it alleges Hertz and Sterling have failed to follow notice, disclosure and authorization requirements under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, resulting in the unfair treatment of job applicants. “We’ve just received the complaint...
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The Hertz Corporation, Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group, Inc. and Sterling Infosystems, Inc. Faces Lawsuit for Allegedly Violating Federal Background Check Law

Jun 9, 2015 / Media Coverage /
The law firm Outten & Golden LLP and the nonprofit organization Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area announced that The Hertz Corporation, Dollar Thrifty Automotive Group Inc., and Sterling Infosystems Inc. are accused in a new federal lawsuit of violating the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) during criminal background checks of Hertz job applicants. Filed in San Francisco federal court, the nationwide class action lawsuit alleges that Hertz and Sterling failed to comply with FCRA's notice requirements prior to taking adverse actions against job applicants and...
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