Governor’s Veto Will Result in Delayed Background Checks in California

by By Rod M. Fliegel, William J. Simmons and Wendy Buckingham - Littler

A May 2021 court decision in California, called All of Us or None v. Hamrick, caused significant background check delays in some California county courts and left background check companies unable to report some criminal record search results at all. The gist of the decision was that background check companies could no longer verify key personal identifying information for criminal defendants in state court index searches commonly used for background checks, such as full date of birth, because the California Court of Appeal held that the information must be treated as private.

Read more: https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/state-and-local-updates/pages/california-background-checks.aspx

New Employment Laws in California

by Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, LLP - JD Supra

As the California legislative session ended, several employment-related bills were sent to Governor Gavin Newsom for a signature by September 30.

As of September 27, 2022, three—including a measure that would prohibit employers from discriminating against a person based on their use of cannabis off the job, another that established a Fast Food Council to create a bill of rights for fast-food workers, and a third that expands reporting related to pay data—have already been signed into law.

Read more: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/new-employment-laws-in-california-4028077/

Third Circuit Decision Provides Post-Transunion Guidance on Informational Injuries and Ascertainability

by McGuireWoods LLP, Michael Brody, Diane Flannery, Bryan Fratkin, Andrew Gann, R. Trent Taylor - JD Supra

In Kelly v. RealPage, Inc., the Third Circuit held that a small subclass of consumers could proceed on their class action against RealPage based on the company’s failure to provide them with required third-party information in credit reports. In issuing the decision, the court is one of the first Circuit Courts to squarely address the scope of what constitutes an “informational injury” in the wake of the Supreme Court’s recent decision in Transunion LLC v. Ramirez, 141 S. Ct. 2190 (2021).

Read more: https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/third-circuit-decision-provides-post-8785925/

What Does Utah Consumer Privacy Act Mean for US Businesses?

by Anas Baig - Data Science Central

Utah Governor Spencer J. Cox signed the Utah Consumer Privacy Act (UCPA) into law in March 2022. It has since become only the fourth US state to have its own data protection law after Colorado, Virginia, and California. 

Comparatively, it is considered a lot more similar to Virginia’s VCDPA than California’s CCPA, owing to it being more business-friendly. This is primarily down to the fact that there are no requirements for data protection assessments, cybersecurity audits, or risk assessments.

However, that does not mean it compromises consumers’ data privacy or their rights. Strict obligations are placed on all data processors and controllers to ensure users’ rights are respected at all times. 

Compliance with the UCPA should not prove too difficult for organizations willing to ensure appropriate data protection mechanisms to guarantee consumers’ data is safe without compromising their browsing experience. 

Read more: https://www.datasciencecentral.com/what-does-utah-consumer-privacy-act-mean-for-us-businesses/

Harris County Becomes Latest in Texas to Adopt a Ban the Box Hiring Policy

by M. Brett Burns, Robert T. Bumbacher, Crawford C. LeBouef - The National Law Review

Earlier this year, Harris County, Texas, which encompasses a substantial majority of the City of Houston, became the sixth Texas city or county to embrace a “ban the box” policy when it adopted the Fair Chance Policy.

As we have previously posted (see here and here), “ban the box” policies are gaining support around the country, with over 37 states and over 150 cities and counties having adopted some form of a ban the box policy, including several in Texas.  Generally, these policies are designed to ensure that potential employers consider a job candidate’s skills and qualifications first, thereby eliminating any implicit bias or negative implication to his/her application due to a criminal conviction or arrest record.  As the name suggests, these policies typically  eliminate the box (or question) on an employer’s employment application where the applicant must check off whether or not he/she has a criminal record.  

Read more: https://www.natlawreview.com/article/harris-county-becomes-latest-texas-to-adopt-ban-box-hiring-policy

A bill that would seal certain criminal records could open doors for millions of Californians

by Anabel Sosa - Los Angeles Times

SACRAMENTO — State lawmakers on Thursday approved legislation that would allow some Californians with criminal convictions to have those records sealed if they maintain a clean record, a move cheered by criminal justice reform advocates and harshly criticized by law enforcement.

Read more: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-08-18/lawmakers-consider-sealing-some-criminal-records-after-4-years-of-release

NYC Council bill would ban landlords from checking tenants’ criminal history

by Paul Liotta - Staten Island Advance

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — Members of the New York City Council and housing-rights advocates renewed their push Thursday to end landlords’ ability to check their tenants’ criminal histories.

Proposed legislation, known as the “Fair Chance for Housing Act,” failed in previous council iterations, but had 29 co-sponsors in the City Council, enough for a majority, according to the bill’s prime sponsor, City Councilman Keith Powers (D-Manhattan).

Read more: https://www.silive.com/news/2022/08/nyc-council-bill-would-ban-landlords-from-checking-tenants-criminal-history.html

Miya’s Law: Florida Landlords Must Conduct Specific Background Checks for Their Apartment Employees

by Susan M. Corcoran, Templeton N. Timothy - JacksonLewis

Florida’s new Miya’s Law, Fla. Stat. 83.515, imposes background screening and other specific requirements on landlords regarding their employees who work in apartments that can be classified as “nontransient” or “transient.”

Miya’s Law is named after Miya Marcano, who was killed in her apartment by a maintenance worker having access to her apartment.

Read more: https://www.jacksonlewis.com/publication/miya-s-law-florida-landlords-must-conduct-specific-background-checks-their-apartment-employees

'Shocking breach of faith' | Spectrum owes $7 billion in punitive damages for murder of Texas customer

by Jay Wallis - WFAA

DALLAS — A Dallas County jury found Charter Communications, which also operates as Spectrum, acted negligently in hiring a field technician who killed one of its customers. The company now owes billions of dollars in damages.

The jury awarded $7 billion in punitive damages against Charter for "systemic safety failures" in connection to the 2019 murder of 83-year-old Betty Thomas by one of the technicians. Earlier in June, a jury also said Charter had to pay 90% of $375 million in compensatory damages to Thomas' family. 

Read more: https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/spectrum-7-billion-punitive-damages-murder-of-83-year-old-texas-customer/287-11135ab6-58f9-467b-9383-f8d60f0de83c

How companies can manage the risks in handling alternative credit databy

by Joseph Cioffi, Nicole Serratore - Reuters

July 27, 2022 - Is a consumer with a FICO score below 620 actually a greater risk? How would you know? Evidence suggests originators can no longer rely solely on FICO scores to identify subprime borrowers or those with weaker credit prospects.

Alternative data, such as bank account/cash flow, rental payment history, professional licensing or education information, along with machine learning and artificial intelligence, are available to help gauge credit risk more accurately. But the use of alternative data carries particular legal risks. As credit performance softens across markets, and, in particular, for non-prime auto loans, non-compliance with law in the origination process could become the basis of claims by investors and other parties, if they start to incur losses.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/how-companies-can-manage-risks-handling-alternative-credit-data-2022-07-27/