Dignity Health Consumer Report Disclosures FCRA California Class Action

The complaint for this class action argues that Dignity Health has committed violations of federal and state laws: the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), California’s Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act (ICRAA), and its Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act (CCRAA). All involve disclosures relating to Dignity’s obtaining of consumer reports on prospective employees.

Plaintiff Shirley Liang applied for a job as a Senior Financial Analyst with Dignity at a Los Angeles facility. As part of the interview and employment process, Dignity obtained a consumer report on her.

The FCRA requires that a consumer report can be obtained only if “(i) a clear and conspicuous disclosure has been made in writing to the consumer … in a document that consists solely of the disclosure…” and “(ii) the consumer has authorized in writing … the procurement of the report by that person.”

Liang claims that when she was informed about the consumer report, she was given a four-page disclosure document that contained both FCRA information and other notices and information not related to the FCRA. The complaint says that document “does not meet the requirements for clear and conspicuous disclosures in a stand-alone document.”

Also, the complaint claims that the disclosures did not include a required summary of rights under the FCRA.

As to the ICRAA, the complaint alleges that the California disclosure document did not include an authorization allowing Dignity to obtain the consumer report. It also contained additional extraneous information for other releases and disclosures.

Finally, the CCRAA requires two additional things. First, a notice about obtaining a consumer credit report “shall identify the specific basis … for use of the report.” Second, it “shall also inform the person of the source of the report, and shall contain a box that the person may check off to receive a copy of the credit report.” The complaint alleges that the document did not identify the basis for use of the report and did not contain the required check box allowing the person to obtain a copy of the report.  

Three classes have been defined for this action. 

• The FCRA Class and the ICRAA Class include all current, former, and prospective employees of Dignity Health who applied for a job with Dignity in California during the time between June 21, 2014 and the present.
• The CCRAA Class is all current, former, and prospective employees of Dignity Health who applied for a job with Dignity in California during the time between June 21, 2012 and the present.

Article Type: Lawsuit
Topic: Consumer
Tags: Background Reports, Credit Reports, FCRA, Failure to provide proper notice and/or obtain proper authorization, Failure to provide subject with summary of rights under FCRA