CHICAGO — A job applicant has filed a class-action lawsuit against Smith Transport Inc. and Smith Transport USA Inc., saying they violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Lead plaintiff Jerome Ratliff Jr. filed a complaint Aug. 6 in Cook County Circuit Court, alleging Ratliff and other class members submitted an online application for a commercial truck driver position with the defendants in December 2014.
However, the lawsuit claims the defendants used consumer reports from screening agency HireRight without the knowledge of the applicants. After receiving and reviewing his background report, Ratliff said the defendants disqualified him from further consideration for employment.
As a result, Ratliff said he and the other class members were deprived of employment because of information they do not possess and cannot verify and were denied the opportunity of responding to or correcting allegedly inaccurate or incomplete information.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks injunctive relief, actual and statutory damages, litigation expenses, attorneys' fees and other relief as required. He is represented by Adam York and Michael Aschenbrener of KamberLaw, LLC in Chicago.
Circuit Court of Cook County case number 18-CH-09979