HELP! New job & criminal background check reports felony conviction – IT IS NOT ME. How can I clear my name?
Have been working in healthcare & education since 1982 where I must have a clean record which I do. Received a promotion to university faculty & was on the job two days for training. Got a call today that I had lied about a 1989 felony conviction they "discovered" (worthless check charges in a county across the state where I have never been). Asked not to return & job status "disqualified". Human resources said I can meet with them Thurs. and prove my innocence–trying to obtain a police background check on myself to show them. They will NOT show me their background check on me so that I can verify for errors. When I contacted police ASAP, they opted to file a report and are working it as a possible identity theft…but I wonder if HR has pulled the wrong person’s record which is not me and it is a clerical error they made. I know there are others in my state with same name. What do I do? I am jobless and my reputation is now ruined in a small area where I am a native.
The state is NC and HR at the state university claimed to run the background check themselves.
First off, go to your local police and file an identity theft report, a copy or at least a glance of you complete criminal history check can be obtained from the police officer you speak with. Secondly, depending on how important this job is to you, hire and attorney to help mediate with your prospective employer. Third, relax and cooperate with HR as much as possible, don’t get angry with them or start blaming them for anything until you have proof, if they really want to hire you they will work with you on this issue.
The best thing I can think of for you is to file a lawsuit against the company that fired you and let the evidence come out in court. I know that you probably would need a good lawyer and you could probably find one to represent you probono which is slang for not charging you anything unless you win. I, for one, believe you, so don’t quit……….
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First off, go to your local police and file an identity theft report, a copy or at least a glance of you complete criminal history check can be obtained from the police officer you speak with. Secondly, depending on how important this job is to you, hire and attorney to help mediate with your prospective employer. Third, relax and cooperate with HR as much as possible, don’t get angry with them or start blaming them for anything until you have proof, if they really want to hire you they will work with you on this issue.
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you don’t have a lot of time to gather info so it may be difficult, but……..do you know the county the conviction is from and the name? (i’m guessing it is your name too)………..contact that county (most likely you will have to do it in person) and get a copy of the disposition (copy of the conviction) then get in touch with the police dept/sheriff’s dept to get written verification that it was someone else and not you (they keep a record of the person’s name, ss#, inmate id#, federal inmate#, address (at the time of arrest), date of birth, photo (”mug shot’), date of arrest, charges (cause #s) for the arrest, method of release (did they bond out or did they plea in jail), etc.
the courthouse will be closed tomorrow (but they don’t have the identifying info readily available) but the police/sheriff’s dept will be open (but i don’t know if the records department will be). you can use the info from the police/sheriff to prove it wasn’t your arrest, therefore it wasn’t your conviction.
also, take a copy of the police report (that you just filed) with you to the meeting with HR
another way to go around that (which is less likely to work though) is to contact a bond company or a private investigator and pay them to do a quickie background check (there are paid websites where you can get the criminal info, some bond companies will have access to a site like that because they have to check criminal records of all employees and sometimes will check the record of defendants to see if they are a good bond risk or not)
good luck!!!!!!!!
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Go to the Records Section at the police department and pay to get a copy of your record (ask for a record check on yourself). If the felony shows up, ask them if you can be fingerprinted to prove that does not belong on your record. Whoever the felon is will have their prints on file so it isn’t hard to prove it isn’t yours. We had to do that a few times when I worked in the Records Section when someone stole people’s identity, one being a twin sister.
Then you need to ask where you can make a report so the information will be on file. The ID Bureau where they take your prints can give the suspect information to the officer who takes your report.
You probably won’t be able to get a copy of the police report the same day but you do need to go back and get one as soon as it is available so you have one for your files (some times when an officer takes the report, they will walk it through so you have a copy ASAP).
Also get a copy of your credit report so you can see what kind of activity has been going on there. Better safe than sorry and if there is some kind of shady activity, ask the police what you need to do. There should be a detective assigned to the case if there is any kind of identity theft or fraud.
I would talk with a lawyer or the detective about your work keeping information from you. I don’t think they can legally do that but at least find out if you have a right to demand a copy for yourself and get a copy of the law to hand to the employer when you go back to prove your innocence. Don’t let them bully you.
Good luck to you
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25 yrs at PD
You have the right to review information provided by previous employers;
You have the right to have errors in the information corrected by the previous employer and for that previous employer to re-send the corrected information to the prospective employer;
You have The right to have a rebuttal statement attached to the alleged erroneous information, if the previous employer and you cannot agree on the accuracy of the information.
You have the right to review previous employer-provided investigative information. You must submit a written request to the prospective employer, which may be done at any time, including when applying, or as late as 30 days after being employed or being notified of denial of employment. The prospective employer must provide this information to the applicant within five (5) business days of receiving the written request. If the prospective employer has not yet received the requested information from the previous employer(s), then the five-business days deadline will begin when the prospective employer receives the requested information. If you do not arrang to pick up or receive the requested records within thirty (30) days of the prospective employer making them available, the prospective employer may consider you to have waived your request to review the records.
Employees wishing to request correction of erroneous information in records received must send the request for the correction to the previous employer that provided the records to the prospective employer.
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First of all, TOM is incorrect. You have no such rights to any information given to your current employer by previous employers.
Also, that entire point is irrelevant to your situation. What IS relevant is who conducted the background check.
When you come back and answer that and in what state this occurred, I’ll know better how to respond. By the way, I am an attorney and there are very strict Federal Laws which MAY apply depending on the answer to the above questions.
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Check your states laws as they may be required to show the background check they did if you dispute it. Ask how they ran the background check and order your own if you have to. You should have an appeals process…
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Chances are high you were a victim of id theft. I am an independent associate for a company that deals with id theft and life event legal plans. You will need a lawyer for this situation.
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