Photo: Evan Lockridge

Photo: Evan Lockridge

The trucking company Swift Transportation has agreed to pay $4.4 million to settle a federal class action lawsuit over claims if failed to inform prospective drivers about their rights involving records used during the hiring process.

The case was filed last summer by James Ellis III. He applied to be a Swift driver in 2012 but was turned away due to his background check.

He will receive a $5,000 settlement while seven other named plaintiffs will each get $1,000. The settlement includes more than 10,000 people who applied for driving jobs with Swift from July 23, 2008 through Sept. 30 2012.

The suit claimed Swift failed to people who applied for jobs they can access the same information as the company for background checks and question the information the company reviews in making hiring decisions.

It also alleged Swift violated the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act for several years by not informing Ellis and other driver applicants they had a right to get a free copy of the report used by Swift and could dispute any information on it.

Swift has denied the accusations all along but has reportedly clarified to applicants its hiring practices.

It is up to the court to give preliminary approval to the deal.

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