Cindy Hanson

Cindy D. Hanson focuses her practice on class action defense. Cindy has handled hundreds of matters under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, including over two dozen class actions.

Her practice includes the representation of consumer reporting agencies, entities who furnish information to consumer reporting agencies and employers who use background check information for employment purposes.

In addition, she has significant experience representing companies defending class actions under consumer protection statutes and state common law.

Representative Matters :

• Represented a criminal background check company in a putative class action alleging that the client provided inaccurate information to a reseller that was used in connection with the plaintiff’s application for employment. The plaintiff alleged a willful violation of section 1681e(b) of the FCRA and sought to certify a nationwide class. The case settled on an individual basis.
• Represented a national credit reporting agency in a class action and obtained a decision by the Fifth Circuit to reverse class certification involving approximately 10 million consumers. Upon remand to the district court, we obtained summary judgment with respect to one of the plaintiffs and the other five plaintiffs thereafter dismissed their claims.
• Represented a national credit reporting agency in claims against a mortgage broker which alleged that a subsidiary of the client misappropriate trade secrets belonging to it and other mortgage brokers. We obtained a motion to dismiss class certification and the decision was affirmed by the Second Circuit.
• Represented a national credit reporting agency in a putative class action where the plaintiff alleged he was forced to pay for a copy for his free yearly file disclosure. The case was settled.
• Represented an apartment management company in a class action alleging that it violated section 1681b by failing to give proper notice before taking adverse action against the plaintiff. The case settled.
• Represented a national background check company in a putative class action where the plaintiff alleged that the client willfully violated the FCRA when it prepared reports on prospective employees. The case settled on an individual basis.
• Represented a consumer reporting agency against allegations that it violated sections 1681k and 1681c of the FCRA when it provided certain adverse information to potential employers that was more than seven years old. The case was settled.

Professional and Community Involvement : Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar

EDUCATION :

• Columbia University, J.D., 1993
• Rutgers College, B.A., cum laude, 1990

BAR ADMISSIONS : Georgia, New York