Job Applications and Criminal Background Reports

Truckers everywhere should understand their rights when applying for jobs in the Commercial Trucking Realm. When applying for a job, you are often asked if you have any misdemeanor or felony criminal convictions. Most applicants are truthful in this regard and assume that any criminal background report sought will provide "accurate" and "up-to-date" information. Sadly, this is not the case. Often, after stating in an application that the applicant has no criminal background, a report is sent to the employer which contains inaccurate criminal background. For Example, Job Applicant with the name of "Kris Smith" from Georgia applies for a job with "ABC Trucking". Kris Smith correctly states that he does not have a criminal conviction background. "ABC Trucking" basically is ready to hire Kris pending a clean criminal background report. The criminal background company (take your pick: Intelius USIS/Integrascan/HireRight/DAC or the many others) reports to "ABC Trucking" that Kristine Smith from Indiana was convicted of drug trafficking and child molestation. Or, the criminal background company reports that Kris Smith from Georgia was 'convicted' of a crime even though the case was dismissed.

These types of 'bad reporting' is happening all over the nation causing many to miss out on job opportunities. The 'inaccurate' reporting is a violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and could result in the criminal background company being liable for lost wages and other penalties paid to the job applicant.

Not only does the criminal background company have a duty to follow the law, but so does the trucking company. A trucking company who decides not to hire an applicant based on his criminal background report has an obligation to notify the applicant, prior to denying the employment, of the fact that there was a criminal record it was considering for employment purposes.

If you have questions about your rights, contact me at 440.930.4015 or apecora at sheffieldlaw dot com.

Tony Pecora

 

Not really. I have never charged a trucker an hourly rate. We get paid when the case is settled. The cases we are talking about is when the trucker has a great 'interview' and is told that all they need to do is wait for the crim background or the DAC report. At that point they have to make an employment decision based on the consumer report.

 

Hey Magnum Force. You should know depending on the pre-crim background interaction with the company. You should request that they provide you with their reasons for not hiring you. If you have a crim backround and they base the decision on that, then they need to inform you of that.