INDUSTRY NEWS
Settlement Reached in Madison Square Garden FCRA Violations Case
A deal totaling $1.3 million was reached to end the criminal background check suit.
Filed in 2017, the suit accused Madison Square Garden (MSG) of Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and New York City Human Rights Law violations for presenting conditional offers and then ultimately denying employment without first providing applicants with a summary of rights or a copy of the consumer report containing the criminal records.
On June 24, 2019, Madison Square Garden (MSG) job applicants requested that a New York federal judge approve the arrangement, requiring the sports and entertainment company to pay 389 applicants $200 each. This pool of applicants levied claims that they were denied employment per the results of their background check and were also denied copies of the reports, violating the FCRA. Part of the arrangement also included terms requiring MSG to pay 260 individuals that applied at their New York City location $1,700 each, who would have been eligible for employment absent their failure to fully disclose their full criminal conviction history.
Terms of the settlement also mandate that MSG only require applicants to disclose the past five years of criminal records. Additionally, settlement terms require that applicants are provided with a copy of their reports and a summary of rights under the FCRA before being denied employment.