K-Mart, in Pitt v. K-Mart Corp., Case No. 11-cv-00697, has reached a $3 million settlement in a class action lawsuit pending before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The class consisted of more than 64,000 job applicants who sued K-Mart for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (the “FCRA”). Specifically, Plaintiffs alleged they lost out on jobs without having a chance to challenge negative information reported to their prospective employers in background checks and that K-Mart failed to notify the job applicants they were rejected for employment because of the background checks. The FCRA requires employers to notify applicants if they plan to take an adverse action, which includes denying employment, based on a consumer report (commonly known as a “credit report”) or criminal background check. Plaintiffs claimed Kmart rejected job applicants before alerting them of derogatory background checks. K-Mart denied any wrongdoing in the case but agreed to the $3 million class action lawsuit settlement to resolve the litigation.

If you have been denied or lost employment because of inaccurate information in a criminal background check, you may have claims against your employer for violations of the FCRA. If you would like to consult with an attorney about any potential claims, contact us.