FCRA Employment: Gross v. CONCORDE, INC.

A court in the the Middle District of Florida weighed in on the growing improper use of consumer reports (including credit reports) in employment decisions in Gross v. CONCORDE, INC.:

As alleged in the Amended Complaint, in 2016 Plaintiff applied for employment with Advanced Disposal Service, Inc. (ADS). Dkt. 25 ¶ 24. As part of the application process, ADS obtained a consumer report with Plaintiff’s information prepared by Defendant, a credit reporting agency (CRA). Id. ¶ 25. To this end, ADS presented Plaintiff with an electronic form titled “Fair Credit Reporting Act Disclosure Statement and Authorization.” Id. ¶ 26.

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He alleges a willful violation because Defendant “provided consumer reports about Plainitff, which [were] used for employment purposes, without the user’s certification of compliance with the disclosure, authorization and notification requirements set forth in 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(2) and § 1681b(b)(3).” Dkt. 25 ¶ 68. Plaintiff further alleges Defendant “invaded Plaintiff’s privacy by compiling Plaintiff’s personal, private and sensitive information into a consumer report for employment purposes, and furnishing said consumer reports without a permissible purpose.” Id. ¶ 69.

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Though Defendant argues Plaintiff’s allegations of invasion of privacy are conclusory, Plaintiff claims that Defendant furnished Plaintiff’s private information to ADS in contradiction to the FCRA’s mandate and he was thereby harmed. Plaintiff further alleges that, based on that information, ADS took an unwarned adverse action against him. Because the violation concerned Plaintiff’s information and his employment application, the alleged injury was moreover particularized to Plaintiff.

Read more about FCRA violations here.