Background check error

Background Checks | Employment Screening

Background Checks and the Federal Law

Employers obtain background checks (or consumer reports, commonly known as credit reports) to aid decision making when it comes to evaluating a consumer for employment, promotion, reassignment, or retention as an employee. Intelli Corp, HireSafe, HireRIght, Clarifacts, EmployeeScreenIQ, and Proforma are just a few of the many background check/employee screening companies that offer employers their services. When an employer conducts a background check, they may be provided with any of the following information about you:

  • Credit reports;
  • Criminal and civil records;
  • Social security number (trace and validation);
  • Employment verification;
  • Education verification;
  • Professional license verification;
  • Motor vehicle and driving records;
  • Military record verification; and
  • Workers’ compensation history.

Employer Agrees to $3M Employment Background Screening Class Action Settlement

K-Mart, in Pitt v. K-Mart Corp., Case No. 11-cv-00697, has reached a $3 million settlement in a class action lawsuit pending before the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. The class consisted of more than 64,000 job applicants who sued K-Mart for violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (the “FCRA”).  Specifically, Plaintiffs alleged they lost out on jobs without having a chance to challenge negative information reported to their prospective employers in background checks and that K-Mart failed to notify the job applicants they were rejected for employment because of the background checks.