A former employee has filed a class action lawsuit against her previous employer, alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). Catrina R. Rodriguez filed the complaint in Alameda County Superior Court on October 2017 against U.S. Healthworks, Inc.
Rodriguez claims that U.S. Healthworks, Inc. obtained a consumer report about her without providing adequate notice as required under the FCRA. According to court documents, Rodriguez applied for employment with Healthworks on July 16, 2018, and was required to review and electronically sign several documents including a "Certification," "Notice and Disclosure Statement," "Release Authorization," and an "Application Statement." These documents informed her that a consumer report might be procured as part of the employment process. Despite this disclosure, Rodriguez contends that she did not have constructive notice that Healthworks had actually obtained such a report.
The case revolves around whether Rodriguez had sufficient knowledge or should have reasonably known about the background check conducted by Healthworks. The trial court granted summary judgment in favor of Healthworks based on the statute of limitations, stating that Rodriguez's claim was barred because it was filed more than two years after she discovered or should have discovered the alleged violation. Rodriguez argues that she did not have actual knowledge of the background check until much later and thus believes her claim is still valid.
Rodriguez's initial employment application included statements indicating that any job offer would be contingent upon successful completion of a background check. She received an offer letter from Healthworks on July 17, 2018, which reiterated this condition. A background check was ordered by Healthworks on July 24, 2018, completed the next day, and Rodriguez started working on July 26, 2018. She signed a "New Associate Checklist" acknowledging receipt and review of the offer letter and confirmation that preemployment screening had been satisfactorily completed.
In October 2017, Rodriguez initiated this class action lawsuit alleging violations of FCRA along with other similar claims under California law. The case was initially removed to federal district court where summary judgment was granted in favor of Healthworks due to statute limitations issues. However, upon appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, it was determined that Rodriguez lacked Article III standing for federal court jurisdiction and remanded back to state court.
Upon remand, Rodriguez filed an amended complaint focusing solely on FCRA violations for failure to provide proper notice before obtaining her consumer report. Once again, Healthworks moved for summary judgment citing the statute of limitations defense which was upheld by the trial court.
Rodriguez is seeking relief from alleged violations including statutory damages for each member of the class affected by these practices as well as attorney fees and costs associated with bringing forth this litigation.
The attorneys involved in this case include those representing Catrina R. Rodriguez as well as legal counsel for U.S. Healthworks Inc., with Judge Siggins presiding over this matter under Case ID A1681438.