Trulieve pays $60,500 lawsuit settlement due to background check violations

Excerpted from a Top Class Actions Blog

Trulieve, a Florida-based cannabis dispensary that sells marijuana products, agreed this week to pay $60,500 to resolve a class action lawsuit that claims it violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) with unlawful background checks.

The settlement benefits Trulieve applicants and employees who suffered from adverse employment action as a result of background checks obtained since September 2017. Applicants and employees were not provided notice, a summary or a copy of the report. According to the settlement, there are around 1,000 eligible class members.

Trulieve has numerous locations in Florida but has expanded to other legalized states such as California, Arizona, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and Maryland.

According to the class action lawsuit, Trulieve violated federal law with its background check policies. Specifically, the company allegedly took adverse employment action against applicants and employees without providing notices or copies of their reports.

Plaintiffs argued that these background check policies violated the FCRA. Under the FCRA, companies cannot take adverse action against applicants or employees without providing report information. Employers must provide information about which credit reporting company provided the information along with notices about the individuals’ rights to dispute the report’s details.

Trulieve did not admitted to any wrongdoing under the FCRA but agreed to pay $60,500 to resolve the claims.

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