A federal district court in the Northern District of California recently dismissed a lawsuit filed against Paramount Pictures Corporation challenging its alleged failure to provide job applicants with a background check disclosure form that "consisted solely of the disclosure," as required by the Fair Credit Reporting Act ("FCRA"). Specifically, in addition to making the disclosure required by the FCRA, the disclosure form stated: "I certify that the information contained on this Authorization form is true and correct and that my application may be terminated based on any false, omitted, or fraudulent information."
In summarily dismissing the claim, U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria held that "the one-sentence certification Paramount included in its disclosure form if not a part of the statutorily permitted authorization, was closely related to it, and would similarly serve to focus the consumer's attention on the disclosure." Therefore, the additional language was permissible.
The court further held that "[it]t is not plausible that Paramount acted in reckless disregard of the requirements of the FCRA by using this language," Judge Chhabria wrote. "Nor is it plausible that Paramount violated the FCRA by obtaining the credit checks pursuant to the release found elsewhere in its employment application."
Troutman Sanders LLP has substantial experience in counseling employers on disclosure form documents under the FCRA, as well as experience in litigating challenges to such claims. We will continue to monitor like cases.
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