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Applicants do not have Right to Dispute Background Check Report directly with Employer – Appeal Court


Employers covered by the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals are not obligated by federal law to give criminally convicted job seekers an opportunity to clarify an adverse background check report before cancelling a job offer. While the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) gives job candidates the ability to question the accuracy of background checks, it does not provide them the opportunity to debate accurately recorded convictions before having to lose a job offer, as per the ruling by a unanimous three-judge panel of the court last month.

A lawsuit filed by a candidate against a Missouri-based data-processing firm was dismissed by the court. The plaintiff claimed that the firm breached the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) by dismissing her offer of employment before she had a chance to review and address her background check report with the firm.

Although the employer legally violated the FCRA by neglecting to furnish the plaintiff with a copy of the background check report to evaluate for accuracy before cancelling her offer, the court found in favor of the business, according to Richard Millisor, a partner in Fisher Phillips' Cleveland office. The act does not provide candidates the right to defend negative but true information in a consumer report before the employer can make an adverse employment choice," he explained.

The plaintiff stated on her application form that she never got convicted of a felony but was once arrested in 1996 at the age of 17 but was ruled not guilty afterwards. However, according to her background check report, the claimant was found guilty of murder and aggravated robbery in 1996, was convicted to 25 years imprisonment, and was freed after completing 12 years. Her job offer was revoked before she could clarify the concerns, based on this knowledge.

The data center's attempt to reject the lawsuit was denied by a federal judge in Missouri in 2019, who stated that the FCRA mandate that employers furnish job applicants with copies of background checks would be pointless if they did not have the ability to share the details. However, the 8th Circuit found that nothing in the FCRA's wording provides workers the ability to provide companies with context regarding their criminal history.