An Indiana-based healthcare management group has been hit with a class-action lawsuit after one job applicant claimed she was denied a position at the company based on an allegedly false background check report.
The suit was filed in late April by Michele Petry, who applied for a nursing job with Ide Management Group in March.
IMG, doing business as Cathedral Health Care Centers, operates skilled nursing and assisted living facilities in Indiana, Illinois and Iowa.
Petry claims she interviewed with the company and was told she would be offered the job if she successfully passed a background check.
IMG declined to hire Petry after the report was completed by an unnamed consumer reporting agency showing multiple felonies, including charges for drug paraphernalia and theft.
Despite the report’s findings, Petry never has been convicted of a felony, according to court documents.
Petry requested a copy of the report, which IMG refused to provide.
Her lawsuit claims IMG violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act by not providing Petry with a copy, or a written description of her rights under the Act.
The class-action lawsuit was filed on behalf of the “hundreds, possibly thousands” of IMG job applicants over the past five years whom the company screened using a consumer report, and those people the company “took adverse action against” without providing a copy of the report or consumers’ rights, the suit reads.
Petry is seeking punitive damages for violation of the FCRA, as well as actual damages for financial harm and injury of her reputation.
Starbucks is currently facing a similiar class-action lawsuit bought earlier this year by a job applicant in Colorado who claims he was denied a position at the coffee giant because of an inaccurate report. He also is suing for alleged FCRA violations.
From the June 01, 2017 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
