SimplyHR | Employment & Labor Blog 

2018 was a relatively quiet year in federal employment law developments, but the stage is set for a much more active 2019. Below is a summary of major federal employment law headlines and a look at what employers can expect in 2019.

For Missouri and Illinois employers, a review of 2018 state updates and a look forward at 2019 can be found here.

The United States District Court for the Northern District of California recently dismissed a proposed class action alleging that LinkedIn was a Consumer Reporting Agency (“CSA”) under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) and violated the law when it provided an online feature that allows businesses to check applicants’ references on the site without the applicants’ knowledge. Sweet v. LinkedIn Corp., 5:14-cv-04531-PSG (N.D. Cal. April 14, 2015). The Plaintiffs unsuccessfully argued that the site’s “Reference Search” feature produced “Consumer Reports” (“CR”) under the law.