Errors in background checks raise concerns

[struggle4progress]

Companies using checks more than ever

By JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN
Associated Press
1/3/2006

STAMFORD, Conn. - Jessica Smith thought she was a shoo-in for a cashier's job at an Office Depot in Minnesota last summer. The store manager was encouraging, saying he just needed to run a criminal background check.

But a week later, Smith received a rejection letter that cited a lengthy rap sheet, including drug convictions in Washington.

"I have no record," Smith, 19, said as she flipped through court documents. "They all say felony and guilty. I've never even been to Washington."

Smith, who fought for six weeks to clear her name before eventually landing the job, was a casualty of one of the latest trends in business hiring. Companies increasingly rely on pre-employment background checks to ease security concerns and protect against costly lawsuits. <snip>

http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20060103/1053247.asp

[Bluzmann57]

1. And if bush gets his way

Anyone who opposes him will be blackballed as well. Gotta believe that there are more Jessica Smith's than just that young lady in Connecticut. Fairly common name after all.
True story. Some friends had a son who was ready to go off to college. They thought that since the young man worked hard and was attending college away from home, he ought to have a car. He obviously had no credit record to speak of, so they had to co-sign the loan with him. Well, a credit and background check resulted in hundreds of allegedly unpaid cable tv bills in the kids name. My friends tried to explain that he didn't have cable in his name, it was in their name and they dutifully paid the bill each month. It turned out that there was another R. Delgado who was the deadbeat and the kid got the car loan. But it just goes to show you that once these companies make a mistake, it can affect innocent people's lives.

[MountainLaurel]

2. And additionally

If your credit report is screwed up because of a mistake, identity theft, or fraudulent activity (e.g.,an adult child steals his brother's credit card number and uses it to run up $15K in debt), usually the burden of proof is on YOU to prove the mistake. I know people who have spent years and tens of thousands of dollars to fight the credit reporting agencies.