Coach Defeats Class Action Over Background Check Hiring Policy

Fashion brands Coach, Kate Spade, and Stuart Weitzman’s parent company Tapestry Inc. won’t face a class action from more than 100 job applicants who claim their background checks broke federal law.

The company’s procedure of running retail store applicant-authorized background checks, then placing those applicants “on hold” and pulling conditional offers if hires don’t dispute criminal histories, doesn’t violate the Fair Credit Reporting Act, US District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Jennifer L. Rochon ruled Friday.

The case centered on the hiring run-around class representative Huong Thu Nguyen-Wilhite faced when she left one retail job ...