Who is a Class Member
You are a member of the Costco Job Applicant Background Check FCRA Settlement if you “applied for U.S. employment with Costco at any time from August 10, 2014, through April 17, 2017, authorized a background report, and Costco conducted a background check about you.”
There are about 113,839 Class Members. 1,510 of these Class Members are part of an “Entitled to Autopay Class” because they were denied employment after review of their background check report.
If you don’t qualify for this settlement, check out our database of other class action settlements you may be eligible for.
Settlement Amount
- $2,490,000.00
Estimated Award
- TBD
The exact amount of payment will vary and will depend on the amount of attorneys’ fees, Class Representative Service payment, administration costs, and the number of Claim Forms submitted. It is expected that Settlement Class Members will receive between $25 and $175 each, but possibly as much as $400.
Proof of Purchase
- Settlement Class Members will need to enter in their Claim ID Number located at the top of your email or postcard notice.
Claim Form
Note: If you one of the 1,510 Class Members in the Entitled to Autopay Class, you do NOT need to submit a claim form to receive payment from the settlement. All other Class Members will need to file a claim in order to receive a payout.
Costco Job Applicant Background Check FCRA Settlement Notes
- Julius Terrell v. Costco Wholesale Corporation
- Case No. 16-2-19140
- Pending in the Superior Court of the State of Washington in and for King County
Plaintiff Julius Terrell initiated this class action lawsuit alleging Costco violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) when it obtained background reports on job applicants using a non-compliant disclosure form. Specifically, the complaint states that the disclosure form was not a stand-alone form, which it must be under the FCRA.
Terrell, who applied for a job at a Costco in Washington state in 2014, was provided with a “Pre-Application FCRA Disclosure and Authorization” form. The document included both and authorization and disclosure allowing Costco to obtain information from Terrell and other job applicants from ““any law enforcement agency, administrator, state or federal agency, institution, school or university (public or private), information service bureau, employer, or insurance company.”
Doesn’t seem like a big deal, right? Most of us have signed consent for a background check when applying for a job. But this case centers not on the background report but the form that a job applicant signs to consent to a background check. See, the FCRA mandates that a disclosure form cannot be combined with an authorization form or any other extraneous information for that matter. Despite this very clear FCRA law, many employers include additional information on the document.
Costco denies the allegations and says the disclosure form at issue is compliant with the FCRA and did not harm anyone. However, the warehouse giant agreed to settle for $2.5 million to avoid further risk and expense. According to settlement documents, there are approximately 113,839 Class Members. Nearly 1500 of these Class Members were denied employment because of background reports Costco obtained through use of the disclosure form at issue.
Complete details are provided in the Settlement Agreement. The Settlement Agreement and other related documents are available on the Costco Job Applicant Background Check FCRA Settlement website.
Class members who wish to exclude themselves or object to the terms of the Costco Job Applicant Background Check FCRA Settlement must do so by May 14, 2018. Class members who wish to submit a claim must do so by May 14, 2018. Remember, if you are in the Entitled to Autopay Class”, you do not need to complete a claim form to get paid.
Important Dates
- 5/14/18: Claim Form Deadline
- 5/14/18: Objection or Exclusion Deadline
- 6/15/18: Final Hearing at 1:30 pm PT* (class members do not need to attend this hearing in order to receive a slice of the settlement pie).
*Settlement Class Members who wish to speak at the hearing should check TerrellFCRASettlement.com to confirm that the date or time of the Hearing has not been changed.
Contact Information
- Mail: Terrell v. Costco Wholesale Corporation, c/o JND Legal Administration, PO Box 91348, Seattle, WA 98111
- Phone: 1-833-380-5571
- Email: info@terrellfcrasettlement.com
Class Counsel
- E. Michelle Drake of Berger & Montague PC
- Beth Terrell of Terrell Marshall Law Group PLLC
Settlement Website