Partnership Screening Reported False Criminal Convictions in Consumer’s Background Check, Class Action Alleges

New to ClassAction.org? Read our Newswire Disclaimer

A proposed class action accuses consumer reporting agency Partnership Screening International, Inc. of violating federal law by failing to ensure the maximum possible accuracy of the consumer information it sells to third parties.

Want to stay in the loop on class actions that matter to you? Sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter here.

Specifically, the 12-page lawsuit says the company has run afoul of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by publishing a report containing inaccurate, “derogatory” information about the plaintiff and failing to provide him with notice at the time it furnished the report to a third party.

The plaintiff applied for a position with CarLotz in October 2021, the suit states. As part of the hiring process, his prospective employer requested and received a background report on the man from the defendant, the case shares.

According to the complaint, the background check erroneously reported numerous criminal convictions—including possession and delivery of a controlled substance—even though the plaintiff has no criminal history.

The gravity of the false criminal charges resulted in the plaintiff losing his job opportunity with CarLotz, the filing claims.

Later that month, the plaintiff disputed the report with Partnership Screening, providing a “plethora of evidence that he was the victim of identity theft and that the criminal charges being reported were false,” the lawsuit relays. The company responded to the dispute in November of that year, explaining that it had removed the erroneous information from his report, the suit says.

Nonetheless, the damage was done, and the man was “left jobless and humiliated,” the case contends.

The complaint alleges that in violation of the FCRA, Partnership Screening does not provide any notice to consumers at the time it sells a report about them, nor does it maintain procedures to properly ensure that the information is accurate or up-to-date.

The company “willfully disregards its duties under the FCRA, which exacts serious consequences on job applicants and interstate commerce,” the filing charges.

The lawsuit looks to represent anyone in the United States who was the subject of a consumer report issued by Partnership Screening to a third party after November 17, 2021 that contained at least one record of a criminal conviction or arrest, and to whom the defendant did not place in the mail a written notice on the day it furnished the report that it was providing the report and who was to receive it.

Get class action lawsuit news sent to your inbox – sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter here.