Legal Question..

[xilly]

I know you guys are usually pretty good with legal advice so I thought I'd present this and see what you thought.

I currently work for a company that owns a collection of doctor's offices, and other health care clinics. I've been here since the end of June, so my 6 month contract is over and they've extended me the offer of full time employment. I submitted to a background check and last Thursday I was called upstairs before I went to my desk so they could talk to me about my job offer. Turns out my background check showed a federal fraud charge in the state of Tennessee, showing that I've had a mark against my medical license. Problem is - I'm not a provider, nor do I have a medical license. I work in IT.

Unfortunately, due to the severity of the issue, my company was forced to terminate my employment. Luckily for me, they told me they would hold my job offer open if I could get this charge removed from my background check and they received a new one that is completely clean. The HR department said they didn't know what the charge was, but suggested I contact ADP to try and find out what's going on.

Long story short, I finally found out from ADP that this charge isn't against me at all - it's a basic check against first and last name only and any match shows up until disputed. I've got an extremely common name, and this caused me to be unemployed (without pay) for about 4 days until ADP filed a dispute to have it removed from my background check. Luckily, I was able to return and started as a permanent employee yesterday, but this still leaves me with several days of no pay. Not getting paid sucks, but I'm more concerned that this type of thing could happen to someone else and their employer may not be as understanding as mine was.

What do you guys think? Should I seek some sort of legal consult for this or should I just bite the bullet and try to forget that this ever happened?

[Kulaf]

Sounds like a pretty crappy background check they are using. I have to maintain a Class III Gambling License where I work and we submit fingerprints and a complete work history. The HR department needs to pony up some additional cash and do a better check.

Bottom line.....suck it up and move on. Not much you can do unless you want to ruffle feathers with HR.

[Ddrak]

Bottom line.....suck it up and move on. Not much you can do unless you want to ruffle feathers with HR.

This. You could probably have grounds for improper dismissal or something (I know some companies pay you to not work while background checks clear), but the only avenue you have is back against your current employer and that can be somewhat career limiting. Given that you were technically coming INTO a new job you probably don't have much to go on.

Having said that, a call to HR inquiring as to their policies when an incorrect background check causes hardship may not go astray. It's not confrontational and you should be able to back out without ruffling feathers if you're careful.

Dd

[Fallakin Kuvari]

suck it up and move on.

This.

[xilly]

I should have clarified - I'm asking if I should seek legal consult versus ADP, not my company. My company actually suggested that I seek legal advice because of ADP's practices, I was trying to get a second opinion.

[Freecare Spiritwise]

I should have clarified - I'm asking if I should seek legal consult versus ADP, not my company. My company actually suggested that I seek legal advice because of ADP's practices, I was trying to get a second opinion.

No, for a few reasons:

1. You already got the job. Mission accomplished. Now focus on the new job and don't be distracted by this BS.

2. ADP is just going to say it's an honest mistake. Oops, sorry, shit happens. You're not going to get them to change their methodology even if you beat them.

3. Beat them for what? Where's the harm? You got the job. They haven't harmed you. They *almost* harmed you but they didn't.

Suck it up and move on. It's also an opportunity to look good to your new employer by telling HR you're not going to hassle it and that you want to stay positive and focus on all the great things you are going to do for your new company. Tell them you don't want to take one minute away from that

[Fallakin Kuvari]

Suck it up and move on. It's also an opportunity to look good to your new employer by telling HR you're not going to hassle it and that you want to stay positive and focus on all the great things you are going to do for your new company. Tell them you don't want to take one minute away from that

Still this.

[Ddrak]

You can't go after ADP because you have no legal relationship with them. Your company is giving you bad advice (probably to stop you going after them). The only question is whether you go after your own company (and they would subsequently go after ADP if you won) or just suck it up and move on.

(I am not a lawyer)

Dd