A man who has no criminal background at all, that has experience working in healthcare facilities, went in for a job opportunity. As his experience and interview reflect he is fit for the job, he is hired pending his background check. Just two weeks into the job, his background check came in. Unfortunately, this person had a somewhat common name. The background check came back with a horrifying string of crimes from drug possession, to solicitation of prostitution, to assault charges. This man did none of these crimes, but since his background check came back with these items, he was promptly terminated from his new job.
This story and many others just like it are popping up all over as more and more companies turn to internet background checks. What is a person to do?
As we have written in the past, these background checks and the companies that provide this information are subject to the Fair Credit Reporting Act. That means, the company that provides the background information has a duty to report with maximum possible accuracy, and has a duty to conduct a prompt and reasonable reinvestigation into the accuracy of their report once challenged by the consumer.
If you are denied employment because of the background check, find out the name of the company that provided the background check. Companies such as Lexis/Nexis, Accurint or HireRight Solutions to name a few are ones that provide this information. Contact that company and demand to see a copy of your report. According to the FCRA, they are obligated to provide you a report free of charge if you were denied employment based upon their report. Once you obtain the report, dispute the information that does not belong to you directly to the background reporting company. By law, they have 30 days to conduct an investigation and report the results back to you. A failure on their part to do any of the above violates the FCRA.
If you are losing employment because of inaccurate information in a background check report, CONTACT US for a free consultation. SmithMarco, P.C., has over 30 years of combined experience practicing law protecting the rights of consumers around the country.