RICHMOND, Va. (Legal Newsline) - Dollar General has agreed to a $4.02 million settlement in a class action lawsuit claiming the company violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Dollar General has denied all of the plaintiffs' claims and denies any wrongdoing, but has agreed to settle the class action anyway, according to the Oct. 15 settlement document filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Virginia.
Attorneys' fees will not exceed 25 percent of the net settlement fund of $3.81 million. Service awards will not exceed $10,000 per class representative.
The class action lawsuit was initially filed on Feb. 13, 2012, by Jonathan Marcum. Jackie E. Lewis Sr. was later named as a second plaintiff in the suit.
Marcum claimed he applied for employment at Dollar General on Jan. 15, 2012, in Richmond and that the company failed to comply with procedural protections and requirements imposed on it by the FCRA.
The woman who interviewed Marcum, known only as Ruth, allegedly told him the job was his if he wanted it, and Marcum then, as part of the interview process "may have seen an FCRA disclosure and he may have signed an authorization permitting the defendant to obtain a consumer report for employment purposes," the complaint states.
Marcum claimed on Jan. 20, 2012, Ruth was telling people in the shopping center where Dollar General was located that he would not be getting the job because of his criminal record.
"Ruth specifically informed people in the shopping center, including Henry, a manager at Radio Shack in the same shopping center, that plaintiff had a firearms conviction," the complaint stated.
Marcum claimed Ruth also told Henry that he had a conviction for domestic abuse.
"Plaintiff has never been convicted of a firearms charge, nor has he ever been convicted of domestic abuse," the complaint stated.
On Jan. 23, 2012, Marcum received a letter with his consumer report, which failed to comply with the FCRA, he said.
There are approximately 112,000 class members who can file claims in the class action settlement, according to the settlement document.
Class members in Group One will receive a check in the amount of $53. Class members eligible for Group Two will receive a pro rata payment capped at $53.
Marcum is represented by Casey S. Nash, Matthew J. Erausquin, Susan Mary Rotkis and Leonard Anthony Bennett of Consumer Litigation Associates PC; and Christopher Colt North and William L. Downing of the Consumer & Employee Rights Law Firm PC.
Dollar General is represented by David M. Gettings, John C. Lynch and David Neal Anthony of Troutman Sanders LLP.
The case is assigned to District Judge James R. Spencer.
U.S. District Court for the District of Virginia case number: 3:12-cv-00108
From Legal Newsline: Kyla Asbury can be reached at classactions@legalnewsline.com.