A national banking association was granted summary judgment in a matter in the U.S. District Court for South Dakota involving a group of former employees who filed suit after their employment was terminated due to the existence of disqualifying criminal convictions on their background check reports. Our firm represented the national banking association in the case.
The plaintiffs initially asserted federal claims arising under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). The court granted the national banking association’s motion to dismiss these claims on the grounds they were untimely under the applicable statutes of limitations, eliminating the possibility that the plaintiffs would recover attorneys' fees. The case then proceeded on the plaintiffs' remaining state law fraud and promissory estoppel claims and the national banking association submitted a motion for summary judgment.
On September 30, 2019, the court entered a 27-page ruling granting summary judgment in favor of the national banking association and ending the case. The opinion ruled, as the national banking association had argued, that federal law regarding employment ineligibility of persons with disqualifying convictions for crimes of dishonesty, breach of trust or money laundering preempted state law fraud and other claims brought by the 10 terminated plaintiffs.
