FTS, UniTek to Pay Up to $1.3 Million in FCRA Class-Action Settlement
Cable installation company FTS USA and parent UniTek Global will pay a maximum $1.3 million to settle class-action claims of Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) violations under a proposed settlement agreement (in Pacer) filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in…
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Richmond, Virginia, by the plaintiff and defendants. The 2013 class-action suit by Kelvin Thomas alleged violations of FCRA provisions on the use of consumer reports in the hiring process. FTS and UniTek are settling '"to avoid further fees and expenses and to bring closure to this litigation," said the proposed joint settlement, which needs court approval. Up to $100,000 would go to class notice and settlement administration expenses, up to $20,000 to Thomas as named plaintiff and up to $500,000 would go to attorneys' fees and litigation costs, with the remainder to go in approximate amounts of $50 each to 7,044 impermissible use class members who don't exclude themselves from the class and $250 each to roughly 1,209 adverse action class actions. The impermissible class group consists of people who applied for jobs with the defendants between Dec. 11, 2011, and Dec. 11, 2013, when the suit was filed, and who were subject to credit report by the defendants but the defendants didn't provide the necessary written disclosure or get proper written authorization.