The Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) is a federal law that protects employees by restricting the use of their criminal and credit reports. Before an employer can even conduct a background check, it has to notify the employee in writing and get the employee’s written authorization. In order for the notice and authorization to be sufficient, the employer must meet the strict guidelines set forth by the FCRA. Even when the employer wants to take adverse action (fire, demote, or not hire) against an employee based on information obtained in the background check, it must comply with the strict notice requirements of the FCRA before and after it takes adverse action against an employee.
The FCRA provides statutory damages for employees whose employer did not comply with the FCRA. If your employer has conducted a background check on you as a term of your employment, you may be entitled to monetary damages even if no adverse action was taken against you. Please contact the employment lawyers at Fitapelli & Schaffer, LLP, (212) 300-0375, to discuss your rights.