The Washington Post published a recent story which is making its way around the country now about a woman who was put on administrative leave from her job because her background check revealed that she had drug related convictions. It seems she was trafficking drugs with Porky Pig, Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd as detailed in this local news report.
Evidently, the county where the background check was performed used real people for testing purposes in their court records. The court forgot to remove this particular test case and the next thing you know, our unfortunate employee is serving time in the Acme clink.
Seems funny, but I’m sure that the individual in question wasn’t thrilled. While the court is clearly at fault here, there was another step where this could have been caught. The report indicates that the identifiers on the record might not have been sufficient. This employee in question’s birthdate didn’t match the birthdate on the court’s record. This might have given pause to those reviewing these records.
Thankfully, the employee successfully disputed the findings and was able to continue with her employment.
This story underscores the importance of verifying adverse information before it is used in the hiring decision.
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This post was written by:
Nick Fishman - who has written 16 posts on Cheezhead.
Nick Fishman is the Chief Marketing Officer and Executive Vice President of employeescreenIQ, a global leader in the employment screening industry. Nick earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from The Ohio State University and has extensive experience in the development of successful sales and marketing campaigns for both large and small organizations. Nick has also served a term as co-chair of the Public Awareness Committee for the National Association of Professional Background Screeners (NAPBS). He also is a contributor to his own company’s blog, employeescreen.com/blog. Nick resides in Chicago, Illinois and proudly serves on the Chicago board of Prevent Child Abuse America.
EmployeescreenIQ is a global background screening company dedicated to superior client service. Their smarter, comprehensive research techniques produce thorough, accurate screening reports that meet the unique needs of their clients and the standards of federal and international employment guidelines. They keep abreast of evolving compliance laws, use the latest marketplace technologies and conduct intensive court-level record investigations. For more information, please visit employeescreen.com.
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