Another FCRA Lawsuit Filed Against Michaels Stores

Written By ESR News Blog Editor Thomas Ahearn

A class action lawsuit alleging violations of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) with improper background checks on job applicants was filed against Michaels Stores – the second FCRA lawsuit filed against the retail craft supply chain in as many months – according to a report on TopClassActions.com.

Top Class Actions reports that the class action lawsuit filed federal court in Texas by lead plaintiff Michele Castro claimed that she completed an online job application with Michaels with “so much extra information it did not adequately notify her that the company would obtain her credit report.”

Top Class Actions reports the class action lawsuit claims Michaels violated the FCRA by “burying” notice that the company would obtain a credit report in the job application. Section 604(b)(2)(A) of the FCRA requires that any disclosure for a background check for employment be “clear and conspicuous.”

According to the class action lawsuit: “Defendant’s FCRA disclosure and authorization are embedded within an online employment application which appears as one long continuous Web page that applicants fill out, and which contains a liability release, among reams of other extraneous information.”

Top Class Actions reports the class action lawsuit seeks a nationwide Class of job applicants who applied with Michaels over the past two years. The class action lawsuit is Castro v. Michaels Stores Inc., Case No. 3:15-cv-00276, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. A copy of the complaint is at https://www.esrcheck.com/file/Castro-v-Michaels-Stores.pdf.

As reported earlier on the ESR News Blog, a class action lawsuit filed in December 2014 claimed Michaels “neglected to properly inform job applicants that the company regularly performed background checks on potential employees during the application process” in violation of the FCRA.

FCRA Class Action Lawsuits A Growing Trend

FCRA class action lawsuit will continue to increase in 2015 even if no one is actually harmed. This is one of the trends on the ‘ESR Top Ten Background Check Trends for 2015’ selected by Attorney Lester Rosen, ESR founder and CEO of Employment Screening Resources (ESR). The view a list of all trends, visit https://www.esrcheck.com/ESR-Top-Ten-Background-Check-Trends.