Prospective Employee Sues GEICO Over ‘Defective’ Background Check Disclosure

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Government Employees Insurance Company (GEICO) is on the receiving end of a proposed class action lawsuit that alleges the company conducted illegal background checks on prospective employees without obtaining their proper consent. The plaintiff in the case says she applied for a position with GEICO and was provided with its “Fair Credit Reporting Act Candidate Notice and Disclosure” form informing her, in part, that it intended to procure a background report on her. According to the suit, the form contained “multiple unrelated and unnecessary statements” and failed to comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act’s requirement that background check disclosures be provided on “standalone” forms.

“The form is unnecessarily long and confusing,” the complaint claims, “and misstates the employer’s obligations under the FCRA.” The suit further argues that because the defendant failed to provide an FCRA-compliant disclosure form to prospective employees, the background checks it obtained were performed without first obtaining their proper consent and were therefore illegal under the FCRA.