background checks: has anyone run up against this?

[datasuspect]

have you ever been denied employment for criminal record matches that didn't pertain to you on a background check?

i've noticed they pull queries according to first three letters of your first name, last name, and DOB.

in some cases they will index SSN, but they don't always do this. plus the onus is on the employment candidate to prove that the record isn't theirs.

it seems like one more example of holding an economically vulnerable population (the unemployed) hostage.

what recourse aside from costly legal representation does the average person have?

[sendero]

1. Threatening..

.... costly legal action?

[deadmessengers]

2. My cousin had that happen

He had a background check come back with him having a dishonorable discharge from the Marines, but he had never served in the Marine Corps. As it turned out, the DD belonged to another person with the same first name, last name, middle initial, and date of birth.

He wasn't unemployed at the time, though, so he just stuck around with his current crappy job until he got the background check straightened out.

You're right, though - the average person (employed or unemployed) has no real recourse in that scenario. How do you prove conclusively that you've never been in the military? How do you prove a negative? How do you get a completely unaccountable agency (the private background-check firms) to correct their records? It's a crap situation, at best.

What I would suggest is to contact Legal Aid and try and get them to represent you in a defamation-of-character suit against the background-check provider.

[yewberry]

3. You can challenge the background check without any legal assisatance.

I ran into this recently--a candidate for a position had an adverse report come back, so we (the agency doing the hiring) sent him a notice stating what we'd received along with instructions for what to do if the report was inaccurate (which it was.)

He challenged the background check and it was investigated by the company that runs the checks, who then cleared the report within about a week. We got the updated result and hired the guy.