First Advantage (“FADV”) is a company that conducts pre-employment background checks on potential employees for businesses large and small. They work in many different industries, including white-collar financial and pharmaceutical jobs, blue-collar manufacturing jobs, and open-collar freelance gig economy jobs. Screening people before hiring them is good business. Hiring someone only to discover something that would have disqualified them can be costly. But the background check reports on which those employers rely need to be accurate. Sometimes, they are not. Sometimes, when these background check reports contain errors, you don’t get the job.
Not only is this just plain wrong, but in today’s job market, when you lose an opportunity, there is little certainty about when the next one might present itself. Consumer Attorneys is a law firm that represents people who have been wronged by errors in background checks. Read on to learn more about FADV, your rights when it comes to background checks, what you should do if you’ve been unjustly denied a job due to a mistake in a FADV report, and how contacting an attorney at the outset of this process might benefit you.
Understanding the Problem
It’s important to understand the entire pre-employment background check process.
- First, you apply for a job. You will likely have an interview or two and then, to make sure you are trustworthy, the company asks to do a background check. You must consent to this and give them your name, SSN, and address for the last 7-10 years.
- FADV begins its check. Depending on the job and the request from the employer, FADV will scour the internet for criminal records, motor vehicle reports, credit reports, financial history, bankruptcies, and any civil litigation. They will verify your name, employment history, and education. They may even search your social media and do internet searches for name mentions.
- FADV generates a report. FADV compiles all this information, flags anything pertinent, produces a report, and then sends the report to your potential employer. Depending on the job and the nature of the search, this could take a couple of days to a couple of weeks.
- The employer makes a decision. The employer, based in large measure on this report, will either extend a job offer to you or send you a rejection letter. If you are rejected, you should ask why. If it’s because of the FDVA background check and that FDVA background check is inaccurate, you have rights.
- The FCRA gives you rights. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) requires credit reporting companies, including FADV, to provide a way to dispute information on their reports.
- Errors can happen for several reasons. A data entry mistake, relying on outdated information, mistaken identity, identity theft, or just incomplete information in the report. However, the FCRA requires companies who produce these reports to take reasonable measures to assure that the reports are accurate.
That’s how the problem happens. What you do next about the problem will determine if and how FADV fixes your report and if they compensate you for the damage their error has caused.
The Next Steps
As soon as you discover that you have been the victim of a First Advantage background check fail, you should contact Consumer Attorneys. If you have already suffered demonstrable damage from the error, then you may be able to sue them right away. The FCRA also requires companies to provide a dispute mechanism.
- Contact FADV. Request a copy of your background check report. By law, they must give you one. Review it and identify any errors or discrepancies. Gather evidence that proves what is on the report is an error. This can be documents, screenshots of updated databases, confirmations of closed accounts or acquittals and anything pertinent.
- File a dispute. We recommend filing your dispute via the U.S. mail and that you keep copies of everything. This way you have proof that you initiated the dispute process. Additionally, if you dispute online you might be waiving your rights to sue FADV in the future.
- FADV investigates. FADV must investigate your claim and determine the accuracy of the disputed information. If it’s an error, they must correct it. They must provide you with a decision within 30 days.
- A lawsuit might be necessary. If they do not investigate or do not get back to you in 30 days, legal action might be your next step. If they investigate and notify you that they did not correct the error, legal action might be your next step.
Errors, regardless of size, will continue to have a corrosive effect on your employment opportunities.
The Role of an Attorney
Every case is different. The consequences of being rejected from a job will vary for everyone. Financial damage, reputational damage, psychological damage, and other consequences all depend on the circumstances or your particular situation. Similarly, FADV’s handling of the inaccuracy and your dispute will vary for everyone. The ease with which FADV could have discovered the inaccuracy was in fact an inaccuracy, the nature of the inaccuracy, whether FADV replied to your dispute and the speed with which they did so, and the steps they took to correct their error will determine legal strategy.
This is why you need an experienced consumer protection attorney at your side. Consumer Attorneys will assess your case, apply the applicable laws, identify the strengths and weaknesses of your case, develop a legal strategy, compile evidence, negotiate when appropriate, and generally guide you through the litigation process and make sure that your rights are protected.
Having a seasoned and caring attorney represent you means you have a professional on your side. We provide comfort and understanding when necessary; we can be aggressive when necessary. All with the goal of getting you the compensation you deserve for the trouble and the loss that you have endured.
First Advantage just threw a wrench in your career plans. That can be a very discouraging thing to endure. Do not let their errors derail your career goals and aspirations. Work with Consumer Attorneys to dust yourself off, get the wrongdoer to correct their mistake, hold them accountable, and get in the best place to move forward with confidence and security.
