Facts

Martin Soto brought a class action against O'Reilly Auto Enterprises, LLC. The class included all employees in the United States who completed O'Reilly Auto Enterprises, LLC's disclosure, authorization, and digital signature forms in its job application and for whom a consumer report was procured during the class period.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS: Plaintiff alleged violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) for failure to make proper disclosures; and violation of the FCRA for failure to obtain proper authorization. Plaintiff asserted that he completed an employment application to work for defendant and the application included an FCRA form authorizing defendant to obtain a consumer report as part of a background check of plaintiff. Plaintiff contended that the form violated the FCRA for two reasons: first, the disclosure contained extraneous language and was not a standalone document that consisted solely of the disclosure; and second, the disclosure violated the clear and conspicuous disclosure requirement.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS: Defendant denied all contentions.

Settlement Discussions

The parties attended private mediation with Tripper Ortman. Although a settlement wasn't reached that day, the parties continued their settlement efforts post-mediation with the aid of Mr. Ortman and were able to reach a proposed class action settlement.

Result

The parties reached a settlement agreement wherein the defendant admitted no wrongdoing or liability but agreed to pay $950,000 to settle class members' claims.