Wells Fargo Faces Lawsuit Over Background Checks

June 9, 2015

A lawsuit has been filed against banking and mortgage giant Wells Fargo by a group of former employees who were fired after background checks were run on them. The lawsuit contends that the background checks violate the Civil Rights Act, which makes it illegal for an employer to enforce policies that have a disproportionate impact on minority employees. The seven plaintiffs were fired by Wells Fargo in 2012 for years-old convictions of crimes such as marijuana possession, illegally receiving welfare benefits and misdemeanor theft. Wells Fargo has denied wrongdoing and claims it must conduct background checks to comply with rules administered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.