Five Guys Enterprises LLC—franchisor of the popular Five Guys Burger Co.—and a California franchisee are facing a lawsuit from a former employee alleging numerous violations of the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act and California state law. The plaintiff, Jeremy Lusk, alleges he began working for Five Guys in August 2016. He alleges that in the application process, Five Guys presented him with a background check disclosure that included, among other things, agreements regarding his drug use, references, fiduciary obligations, and consent to arbitration. He also alleges the disclosure included a release of liability and that Five Guys failed to properly inform him of his rights under the FCRA. He further claims Five Guys procured an investigative consumer report (as that term is used in the FCRA) without first providing him the separate disclosure required for such reports. From those claims, he alleges Five Guys violated numerous provisions of the FCRA.
Lusk also brings similar claims under the California Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act, based on the same alleged failures in Five Guys' disclosure forms, such as the inclusion of extraneous information. He also alleges the disclosure failed to include certain items required by California law, such as the name, address, and telephone number of the agency preparing the report. In addition to alleging a violation of California's Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act, Lusk also alleges Five Guys violated the California Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act, which regulates strictly credit information. He alleges Five Guys procured credit information about prospective employees in connection with their applications and, again, on the back of the same faulty disclosure, was denied information required by the California statute.
Lusk also brings a number of claims for alleged wage and hour violations, including failure to provide meal breaks or pay for overtime. Lusk's claims are pled on behalf of himself and on behalf of various nationwide classes of applicants or employees of Five Guys.
Lusk originally filed his Complaint in the Superior Court of Kings County, California. On June 2, Five Guys removed the case to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, where the case remains pending. One defendant, the local franchisee, filed an answer, but Five Guys has not yet filed its response to the Complaint.
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