On November 12, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida issued an order granting final approval to a class action settlement in Sanders et al. v. Global Radar Acquisition LLC d/b/a Global HR Research. This settlement resolves the lawsuit filed by Shawana Sanders and Keynatta Williams alleging that Global HR Research violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by granting employers access to background check reports without first obtaining certification of FCRA compliance from the employers.
The plaintiffs alleged they were fired from their employer, Naples Hotel Group, LLC, as the result of background reports compiled by Global HR Research and furnished to Naples Hotel Group by A-1 Contract Staffing Inc., which the complaint alleges was a client of Global HR. The plaintiffs allege that Naples Hotel Group did not submit a certification of compliance with the FCRA before receiving the background reports. While the plaintiffs had authorized their employer to obtain the background check reports, they claim they never would have done so had they known the reports would be used as a basis for termination.
The settlement class includes all individuals in the United States and its territories who were the “subject of a consumer report furnished by Global HR for employment purposes” to certain organizations between July 11, 2013 and July 11, 2019. The settlement class consists of approximately 18,931 consumers.
The settlement provides a total of $3,653,650 for the settlement fund, of which $1,205,490 will be awarded as attorneys’ fees and $5,000 paid to each of the named plaintiffs. Each of the 18,931 nationwide class members will receive an automatic payment of approximately $117.25.
The settlement comes after fifteen months of litigation in the Middle District of Florida. A notice of settlement was filed on May 6 before the Court had ruled on any dispositive motions or class certification, and the preliminary approval of class settlement was approved on July 15.