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Stories · 1
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When Background Checks Go Wrong...
Kraken137 asks: "A friend of mine recently got a new job, and as a routine part of the hire process, a background check was done. At 5pm on the Friday before she was to start work, she was notified that the background check had turned up a felony on her record, and as a result, she could not be hired. My friend has never done anything worse than a speeding ticket, so she was suitably confused. If the incorrect results of a background check led to someone not being hired, or being fired, etc... would the person have a legal recourse against the security company?" In this, the age of information, where the numbering, collating, indexing and cross-referencing of millions of identities happens in a single second, the fact that mixups like this still occur disturbs me. What kind protections are in place when the accidental twiddling of a bit can change your entire history?"[In the end] she ended up having to go to the county courthouse for some sort of proof of her identity, and then had to get them to re-do the background check. The matter was resolved, and she started work (a week late however). The felony actually belonged to someone in another state with the same name as my friend (but with a different date of birth and Social Security number). My friend has a very common last name, and a common first name as well. That got me to thinking. Are security companies who do background checks responsible for incorrect results?"