Parsonage

INTRODUCTION

California employers may not obtain an investigative consumer report to aid them in making employment decisions without complying with the

Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act (ICRAA). (Civ. Code,1 § 1786, et seq.) An employer who fails to comply with any of ICRAA’s requirements is liable to the consumer who is the subject of the report for “[a]ny actual damages sustained . . . as a result of the failure or, except in the case of class actions, ten thousand dollars ($10,000), whichever sum is greater.” (§ 1786.50, subd. (a)(1), italics added.) We hold ICRAA, by its plain language, authorizes consumers to recover the statutory sum as a remedy for a violation of their statutory rights, without any further showing of injury. We thus conclude the trial court erred when it required a consumer to demonstrate a concrete injury, such as an adverse employment decision, to establish ICRAA standing and reverse its grant of summary judgment in

favor of the employer.

BACKGROUND

I. Overview of ICRAA An “ ‘investigative consumer report’ ” under ICRAA is “a consumer report in which information on a consumer’s character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or…