On November 16, the United States District Court for the Southern District of California granted final approval of a $1.2 million Fair Credit Reporting Act class action settlement against Petco Animal Supplies, Inc.

As we previously reported, a putative class action was filed against Petco in June 2016, challenging the company’s form of disclosure for employment background checks.  The complaint alleged that the background check disclosure was “hidden” among other pages of “fine print” and did not constitute the “stand alone” disclosure required by law.  After more than two years of litigation, including discovery and motions practice, the parties reached a class settlement.

The key terms of the settlement are as follows:

• Total Settlement Fund: $1.2 million
• Settlement Class Definition: “All persons regarding whom Defendant procured or caused to be procured a consumer report for employment purposes during the period from May 1, 2014 through December 31, 2015.  Included in the Settlement Class is a subclass consisting of those against whom Petco took an adverse action subsequent to procuring a consumer report and did not receive a pre-adverse action notification letter.”
• Settlement Class Sizes: The Disclosure Class consists of 37,279 class members.  The Adverse Action Subclass consists of 52 class members.
• Settlement Class Member Benefits: Members of the Disclosure Class will receive approximately $20 each.  Members of the Adverse Action Subclass will receive an additional $150 each, for a total settlement of approximately $170 each.
• Attorneys’ Fees: $300,000.
• Total Incentive Award for the Two Named Plaintiffs: $10,000.

A copy of the Court’s Order granting final approval of the class settlement can be found here.