Damarcus Stewart sued Accurate Background LLC under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, alleging its employment reports included criminal records that had been expunged, sealed, dismissed under California Penal Code §1203.4, or otherwise removed from public record. The Fair Credit Reporting Act is the federal law that sets accuracy and procedure rules for companies that sell background reports to employers. Accurate Background agreed to create a $487,000 settlement fund for the defined class of affected job seekers, according to MyJobAlly coverage of the fund terms MyJobAlly account of the settlement fund. The case centers on prison and criminal-record entries that should no longer have appeared in hiring checks.
Table of Contents
- What did the lawsuit allege?
- Who is covered by the $487,000 deal?
- Is this an isolated complaint?
- What can affected job seekers do now?
What did the lawsuit allege?
Stewart alleged Accurate furnished employment reports containing removed criminal-record information. That includes cases expunged, sealed, dismissed through California's dismissal process, or otherwise taken out of the public record, according to the JDP Screening report on the settlement JDP Screening report on the settlement. For a job applicant, that kind of error can look like an active conviction.
The core claim was a failure to keep reporting complete and current. Employers use these reports to decide whether to hire, so an old case shown as current can cost an offer. Accurate says it follows FCRA disclosure, consent, notification, and court-record practices, but the lawsuit alleged the safeguards failed for this group.
Who is covered by the $487,000 deal?
The fund covers U.S. residents about whom Accurate furnished an employment report between Feb. 20, 2020 and Feb. 28, 2023 containing such a removed criminal record.
Dates and report content both matter. A report outside that window or without a cleared-record entry does not fit this class. Readers should check two points before acting: If both answers are yes, keep the report, offer letter, denial notice, and any employer messages. Those papers help show what was reported and what happened next.
- Did Accurate supply an employment background report about you in that date range?
- Did that report show an expunged, sealed, dismissed, or otherwise removed criminal case?
Is this an isolated complaint?
No. In Shekar v. Accurate Background Inc., the company allegedly reported a misdemeanor disorderly-conduct conviction without proper consumer notice or strict accuracy procedures. A later proposed case, Iten v.
Accurate Background LLC, alleges workers lost jobs after inaccurate criminal-history and outdated warrant information appeared in reports. Accurate Background is a large employment-screening provider. Founded in 1997 in Irvine, California, it sells criminal, credit, driving, civil-record, and watchlist checks to employers including Amazon, Target, and Ross Stores, according to the Clanton Law Office summary of the company's screening business Clanton Law Office summary of the company's screening business. That scale means one data-handling problem can affect many applicants. Industry regulators have warned about the same pattern: wrong-person files, dismissed cases, expunged cases, and misdemeanors labeled as felonies.
What can affected job seekers do now?
Start by getting your file. Request a copy of your Accurate report, then compare every criminal entry against court records. Look for cases marked dismissed, sealed, expunged, vacated, or no longer public, plus names, dates, and case numbers that do not match you.
If you find an error, dispute it in writing with both Accurate and the employer that received the report. Save copies, send disputes in a trackable way, and note deadlines in any hiring notice. The Stewart deal covers only the defined 2020-2023 employment-report class, not every prison-record error, so a timely individual FCRA dispute remains the practical route for people outside that class.