Connor v. First Student, Inc., 2015 WL 4768123 (Cal. Ct. App. 2015)
Eileen Connor worked as a school bus driver for Laidlaw Education Services. After First Student acquired Laidlaw, it hired a third party agency (the “agency”) to conduct background checks on Connor and all other former Laidlaw school bus drivers and aides. Before conducting the background checks, First Student sent to each employee a “Safety Packet” that included a notice that an investigative consumer report might be requested by the agency. In her lawsuit, Connor alleges that the notice she received did not satisfy the specific requirements of the California Investigative Consumer Reporting Agencies Act (“ICRAA”) and that First Student did not obtain her written authorization for the background check as required by the statute. The trial court granted First Student’s motion for summary judgment based upon an earlier opinion of the California Court of Appeal. The Court in this opinion refused to follow the earlier opinion and held that the agency, as an investigative consumer reporting agency, was required to comply with the applicable provisions of the ICRAA despite the possible applicability of another statute governing consumer credit reports (the California Consumer Credit Reporting Agencies Act (“CCRAA”)).