Dynamic Accident Lawyers: Wells Fargo, BofA Face Class Action Lawsuit Over Background Checks

Wells Fargo Bank NA rescinded a woman’s job offer based on a background check that falsely reported information about her employment history, a New Jersey plaintiff alleges in a Fair Credit Reporting Act class action lawsuit. The FCRA requires basic safeguards to protect the accuracy of credit reports, including employee background checks.

Plaintiff Steve-Ann Muir alleges Wells Fargo violated FCRA by rescinding a job offer for a customer service position based on a false statement that was included in a background report furnished by First Advantage Background Services Corp.

According to the FCRA class action lawsuit, First Advantage submitted Muir’s name to Early Warning Services LLC (EWS), which provided a background report that falsely stated that Muir had been terminated by Bank of America NA due to internal fraud.

Early Warning Services is a consumer reporting agency that facilitates information-sharing to minimize fraud in the financial services market. According to the Wells Fargo background check class action lawsuit, EWS provides a proprietary service called the Internal Fraud Prevention Service (IFPS) to financial institutions.

The FCRA class action lawsuit states that Muir worked as a Sales and Service Specialist for Bank of America in December 2013 and was “abruptly” terminated from her employment with the financial institution in February 2014. Muir says that she was not given a reason for her termination, and she was not notified that she had been suspected of internal fraud. However, Muir says Bank of America reported to EWS that internal fraud was the reason for her termination.

Wells Fargo offered Muir a position as a Customer Sales and Service Representative later in 2014, and contracted with First Advantage to perform a background check. According to the FCRA class action lawsuit, Muir was directed to the First Advantage Internet portal, but the portal did not provide appropriate disclosure regarding the use of consumer reports for background checks. Further, Muir alleges that the portal did not disclose any report would be obtained from EWS or the IFPS system.

Muir asserts that First Advantage provided an ambiguous disclosure that included a waiver of employee rights. “Such disclosure is not ‘clear and conspicuous,’ and is not contained ‘in a document that consists solely of the disclosure,’” as required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

“Had EWS and Bank of America acted reasonably, Plaintiff would not have been shut out of the relevant market for employment,” the background check class action lawsuit alleges.

Muir filed the FCRA class action lawsuit on behalf of herself and a Class of other job applicants who applied for employment with Wells Fargo, and who were subjected to a background check furnished by First Advantage without receiving the proper disclosures required under the FCRA. She also seeks to represent a Class of Bank of America employees who were subject to an IFPS report furnished by EWS, and who were denied employment on the basis of the report.

Wells Fargo recently agreed to settle a similar class action lawsuit over claims the financial institution failed to supply job applicants who were denied employment with a copy of their background check report and also failed to provide the required disclosures five or more days before their employment was denied.

Muir is represented by Ari H. Marcus of Marcus & Zelman LLC and Gabriel Posner of Posner Law PLLC.

The Bank of America, Wells Fargo Background Check Class Action Lawsuit is Muir v. Early Warning Services LLC, et al., Case No. 2:16-cv-00521, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey.

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