If you are a job applicant and the first interview(s) went well (you liked them, they liked you, etc.), then the communications went dead, or suddenly you hear the job has been filled or they are no longer considering you, you might want to check your credit report.  That hiccup in your credit history when you were laid off might be costing you this new job, and they may not be telling you.  Even worse, you may just find that you have been the victim of identity theft and your good credit has been trashed.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) prohibits your current or prospective employer from taking adverse action (i.e., not promoting or hiring you) based on information from a consumer credit report, unless the employer first gives notice to you of what is in the report and its relationship to the adverse action. 

Let me insert a “present company excluded” from this discussion, because (first) Riverside County is the largest employer in the County as well as in the Coachella Valley. The County government is very familiar with and operates within all employment related laws.  Secondly, I have no place giving legal advice to anyone on any subject (much less my neighbor on his illegal garage conversion).  Thirdly, I just can’t speak for smaller employers, and that’s why you have to become an informed employee and job seeker.

An employer who neglects to send notices under the FCRA is in trouble, the amount of trouble escalates depending on how egregious their action was.  An award to you could be limited to actual cost, but then goes all the way up to $1,000 plus punitive damages and attorney’s fees for a willful violation, which was committed knowingly and recklessly.  Did you know that every time you hear the phase “punitive damages” spoken, an attorney gets their Porsche.  Just kidding, some prefer BMWs.

To rap up… I hope this information helps you go forward as a well informed consumer/job seeker, if not a wealthy plaintive.