Santa Clara, CA: A class action lawsuit has been filed against Johnson & Johnson and staffing company Kelly Services alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FACTA). The lawsuit asserts that the defendants rescinded an applicant' job offer based on a criminal conviction found in his consumer report, which the defendants had accessed without properly disclosing the report' employment purposes.
Filed by named plaintiff T. Jason Noye, the lawsuit asserts that J&J and Kelly Services obtained and used consumer reports for employment purposes without first disclosing in writing to the consumer, "in a document that consists solely of the disclosure,"what the reports will be obtained and used for. Noye claims that the job he was offered by J&J earlier this year was unlawfully revoked after the companies obtained his criminal background information without giving him the opportunity to review and dispute the findings.
"Plaintiff contends that defendants systematically violate the FCRA by using consumer reports to make adverse employment decisions without, beforehand, providing the person who is the subject of the report sufficient and timely notification and a copy of the report and a summary of rights under the FCRA, effectively leaving the person who is the subject of the report without any opportunity to correct any errors on the report or to even know who prepared the background report about him or her which formed a basis for the adverse action,"the complaint states.
Noye asserts in the complaint that he applied for a position as an "operations supervisor"with J&J through Kelly Servcices in February and was formally offered the job in writing, which he quickly accepted. Noye then signed a disclosure form from Kelly Services believed to be used to obtain applicants' background reports, the complaint states.
According to the suit, the form did not include a "clear and conspicuous"standalone disclosure that the consumer report may be used for employment purposes, as is required under the FCRA. Instead, the form included improper and extraneous language that violates the standalone requirement, the suit states.
"Among other things, the disclosure form was deliberately designed by Kelly to extract from Mr. Noye and other applicants their agreement that Kelly could obtain and procure consumer reports on them at any time and for any reason forever in the future regardless of whether the applicant had any ongoing employment relationship with the company,"the suit states. Further, Noye states that he acknowledged on the disclosure form that he had been convicted of a crime. He was then informed by Kelly Services that the company needed additional information but that he would not necessarily be barred from employment. Although he later cleared screening with Kelly, Noye learned that J&J had its own process and was told in March that the company would not be hiring him, according to the complaint.
Noye further asserts that the criminal background report obtained by the defendants was inaccurate and misleading because it misreported certain summary offenses as misdemeanors and included three purported safety violations. Although he requested a letter explaining why the offer was rescinded, Noye was never given a copy of his report or a statement of his rights under the FCRA, according to the suit.
Noye brings class allegations against both companies on behalf of "thousands"of individuals, saying their conduct and omissions were willful because the companies knew what they were required to provide under federal law. The proposed class includes all individuals in the U.S. who were subject to an adverse employment decision from Kelly Services or J&J under similar alleged circumstances.
The proposed class is represented by James A. Francis, David A. Searles and John Soumilas of Francis & Mailman PC and by Marielle R. Macher of Community Justice Project. The case is Noye v. Johnson & Johnson et al., case number 1:15-cv-02382, in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
