BENTON – A Greenville man claims he was denied employment based on a consumer report about him.
Daniel Gehrig, individually and on behalf of all others, filed the suit March 8 in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois against Volt Information Services Inc., doing business as Volt Management Corp., doing business as Volt Workforce Solutions.
According to the complaint, in July 2015, the plaintiff applied online for employment with the defendant, and about three weeks later he had an in-person interview for a position with Caterpillar. He returned a few days later to perform additional testing.
Meanwhile, the defendant allegedly obtained information in the form of a consumer report about the plaintiff. He ultimately received a phone call from the defendant informing him that due to his consumer report, he would not be considered for employment, the suit states.
The plaintiff did not receive a copy of the report until August, which he says violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act because he should have received it prior to the denial of employment, the suit alleges. That would have given him time to cure or explain any inaccuracy that may have affected the defendant's decision.
According to the complaint, the defendant's knowledge of the provisions of the FCRA and its alleged violations of the law show that the defendant's actions were willful.
Accordingly, the plaintiff claims he and the class are entitled to statutory damages of not less than $100 and not more than $1,000 for the defendant's four violations of the FCRA, according to the suit, which also seeks punitive damages for the plaintiffs for the violations, attorney fees and court costs.
The plaintiff also demands a trial by jury. He is represented by Jayson A. Watkins and Charles Jason Brown of Brown & Associates in Gower, Mo.
U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Illinois case number 16-cv-249