Background Screening

Compliance Counseling for Consumer Reporting Agencies, Information Companies, and End Users

• Advise consumer reporting agencies and other entities such as software providers, data providers, and furnishers on the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), as well as the Driver’s Privacy Protection Act (DPPA), Gramm Leach Bliley Act (GLBA), and state analogs to the FCRA, DPPA, and GLBA.
• Advise employers regarding their background screening programs, including FCRA compliance as well as compliance with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s guidance on the use of criminal history records, fair chance hiring laws (Ban the Box laws), use of credit restrictions, and other state consumer reporting requirements.
• Advise on and draft compliance-related documents, such as disclosure and authorization notices and adverse action notices.
• Advise organizations on data breaches, security incidents, and breach notification requirements related to personal data.
• Assist clients with drafting and revising service and vendor agreements as well as end-user agreements and technology-related licensing agreements.

International Compliance

• Advise organizations on international privacy and data protection requirements related to the processing of personal data, including cross-border transfers of personal data, including the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
• Assist organizations with self-certification under the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield, Swiss-U.S. Privacy Shield, and other cross-border transfer mechanisms related to personal data.

Litigation and Arbitration

AGG attorneys advise clients regarding pre-litigation demand letters and defend companies throughout the background screening industry, both large and small, in the following types of litigation and dispute resolution:

• Individual-plaintiff and nationwide class actions against background screening companies alleging violations of the FCRA, including failure to maintain reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy (Section 607; 15 U.S.C. 1681e(b)).
• Failure to provide contemporaneous notice or maintain strict procedures (Section 613; 15 U.S.C. § 1681k).
• Reporting obsolete non-conviction records (Section 605; 15 U.S.C. § 1681c).
• Failure to procure appropriate certifications from end users (Section 604(b)(1); 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(1)).
• Failure to provide requested files (Section 609; 15 U.S.C. § 1681g).
• Failure to timely investigates disputes and correct records (Section 611; 15 U.S.C. § 1681i).
• Individual-plaintiff and nationwide class actions against employers and other end users alleging violations of the FCRA, including failure to provide proper disclosures to the subjects of background reports (Section 604(b)(2); 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(2)), failure to procure proper authorization from the subjects of background reports (Section 604(b)(2); 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(2)), and failure to provide subjects of background reports with pre-adverse action letters, adverse action letters, and other required documentation (Section 604(b)(3); 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(3)).
• Indemnification demands and claims.
• Breach of contract claims.