$680,000 Win in Background Check Error Lawsuit!

Federal juries don’t just hand out big bucks because someone filed a lawsuit. They look at the evidence of wrongdoing and the evidence of harm and do their best to calculate a level of compensation that sends a very specific message- justice has been served!

When an Uber driver’s rideshare career came to a sudden and painful halt caused by mistakes in her background check report, three attorneys from Consumer Justice Law Firm and co-counsel to Mistake.com stepped up to represent her. Our team helped the jury understand how deeply unfair the situation was, how devasting the harm was, and who was at fault.

The jury understood the assignment, balancing the scales of justice with data corrections and a big, fat payout.

How SambaSafety Made Uber Unfairly End An Amazing Rideshare Career

Tamia Cornelius lives in Alaska, where tourists who show up in droves have to choose between riding a Clydesdale or hopping an Uber when they want to get around. For Tamia, this meant huge opportunities to show off her driving skills, people skills, and work ethic while making big money for the season. She quickly became an Uber superstar- wracking up great reviews and earning the coveted Diamond Driver status.

Tamia’s dedication to doing her best was enhanced by her need to maintain a job that allowed her ultimate flexibility, having been injured in a previous job years earlier- which meant that her Uber gig was an excellent source of income and an overall lifesaver.

When Uber ran a routine re-check on Tamia’s background, they used a background check company called SambaSafety to prepare the report. The report should have said, “Nothing to see here, folks! All clear!” Instead, it falsely stated that Tamia’s driver’s license had been withdrawn.

Just like that, Tamia’s reputation went from being a rockstar rideshare pro whisking people to desirable destinations to being an unlicensed lawbreaker putting Uber and her customers at risk.

Uber did the only thing they could do based on the false information in Tamia’s background check report- deactivate her. Ugh!

Tamia did the only thing she knew how to do at the time- dispute the error. Twice!

SambaSafety kept doing all of the things it shouldn’t ever have done- reporting wrong information, failing to properly investigate the disputes, and never correcting the error. Doh!

Background Check Mistakes Cause Real Damage

Hearing that an otherwise outstanding Uber driver got deactivated due to sloppy reporting by a background check company sounds bad, but to really understand the damage this error caused, think about what Tamia actually had to go through:

1. Lost her job as an Uber driver- her primary source of income
2. Lost her Diamond Driver status- which brought key perks and benefits
3. Missed out on earning income during peak tourist season in Alaksa- a window of opportunity that can’t be made up for once it’s missed
4. Out of a job that gave her the physical flexibility she needed in order to work with injury-related limitations
5. No real prospects for other work that met her needs
6. Massive amounts of financial and personal stress that wouldn’t let up

One mistake upstream became a waterfall of financial and emotional trauma downstream. And Tamia was drowning.

How SambaSafety Violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA)

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) sets out legal rights and obligations that shape everything about how consumer reporting agencies (like credit bureaus and background check companies) are allowed to behave, and everything about how consumers (everyday people looking for credit, jobs, loans, rentals, insurance, and more) are allowed to protect themselves when they don’t.

Some key things the FCRA says about this situation:

• SambaSafety had a legal obligation to “follow reasonable procedures to assure maximum possible accuracy” in the creation of the background reports it prepared and sold to Uber
• Tamia had a right to dispute the error and ask for a correction
• SambaSafety had a legal duty to investigate Tamia’s disputes and correct the error
• Tamia had a right to pursue real justice through a lawsuit

Tamia’s legal team, three experienced consumer protection attorneys from Consumer Justice Law Firm and co-counsel to Mistake.com, were able to show the jury that SambaSafety’s actions negligently and willfully violated these rights and obligations under the FCRA. They didn’t report accurately in the first place, and they didn’t take her disputes seriously or clean up their mess.

Listen Up! Here’s Why This Case Matters for YOU

This one employment background check report may have only impacted this one Uber driver all the way out there in Alaska, but…

Background check errors are a common, constant, all-the-time, everywhere problem. They impact people every day, throwing job opportunities off course, getting applications denied, causing deactivations and terminations and more.

And background check errors are only ONE kind of consumer reporting error.  

• ‍Background check errors can include criminal record errors, wrong personal data, wrong driving and licensing info (like Tamia’s case!), someone else’s data, and so much more‍
• Credit report errors can include wrong account and payment info, loans that aren’t yours, false reports that you’re dead (yep- you read that right), someone else’s data, and other outrageous mistakes. They block people from getting all kinds of opportunities, including mortgages, car loans, insurance, credit cards, and more.
• ‍Tenant screening errors can include both of the above because tenant screening reports include both credit report data and background check data. They block people from getting the short-term and long-term rentals they need. ‍
• Errors caused by identity theft- these are the same types of errors, but they show up specifically because of identity theft and fraud that hits your financial and credit profile. Consumer reporting companies have to fix these too!

We should ALL celebrate this win!

"This is a major win, not only for people working in the gig economy, but for everyone," said James Ristvedt, Managing Attorney and Trial Counsel at Consumer Justice Law Firm and co-counsel to Mistake.com. “This verdict –especially the jury’s finding that SambaSafety willfully violated the FCRA –sends a clear message to the entire consumer reporting industry: take your responsibilities seriously and follow the law or you will be held accountable."

The Winning Team!

Tamia is represented by Managing Partner David Chami and Managing Attorneys James Ristvedt and Tarek Chami of the Consumer Justice Law Firm and co-counsel to Mistake.com. ‍

Case Name and Number: Tamia Cornelius vs Safety Holdings, Inc., d/b/a SambaSafety, Civil Action No.1:24-cv-00811 (D.N.M. 2026)

Mistake.com Makes Fixing Consumer Reporting Mistakes Easy

Mistakes on your credit report, background check, and tenant screening happen due to unbothered carelessness and sometimes willfulness on the part of the companies who buy and sell your data. These mistakes cause very real financial, reputational, and emotional harm.

As a consumer, the rules may seem squarely in favor of big corporations and against everyday people, and it may be hard to believe that the legal system might actually care about YOU. But, it’s okay to believe, because it’s true.

Sometimes you just need the right friend to show you the way.

Not only is justice possible, but at Mistake.com, we make it easy. From filing disputes to fighting back, we've got you.

Call today!

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