background check hurts

[rene velez]

:confused:I was looking for some advice as to what i should do about something that is happening to me, i am a 39 year old man with 3 daughters, i have just moved back to new york and i have been trying to find a job to support my children, i have been in the maintanance field for more than 13 years and i have been looking for a job in this field for over two months since i have been back. My troubles started when i applied for a position as a porter at the Ivy League College Columbia University. i was asked by a recruiter from next source to come in for a pre-screening, now bare in mind that i have a felony E conviction for possession of marijuana back in 1992 i did 5 years probation and payed my debt to society. i made a terrible mistake, i am grown and my only concern in my life is taking care of my children. i told the recruiter about my past and she said to come in anyway because it was more than 15 years ago with nothing else on my record, i have been a good provider and worker i have no other convictions. I went to the interview and talked to a woman by the name of Alfia, she liked me and was willing to help me get back on my feet, i was sent to take a drug test, and they were going to do a background check on me, when i filled out the application at next source the application clearly stated and asked if i had ever been convicted in the last 7 years, obviously i wasn't so i answered no, my offense was 15 years ago so it shouldn't apply, i receive a phone call from alfia the next day and she tells me that there was an alert on my background check and that they had to investigate it, i know for a fact that the only problem i had with the law was 15 years ago, if Columbia univesity does a background check and the application specifically asks about 7 years or less why would i be flagged? isn't the agency that they hired to do a background check doing more than they are suppose to to jepardize my name and credibility because they want to? i feel violated because of this occurance, is there anything i can do to prevent this from happening? was i mislead on the application? or was i discriminated against? i would like to know

[mentalsavage]

I just had a very similar thing happen to me. I had applied to a truck driving school who will train you, and then you are employed by them. I listed my criminal record, (parole close date 2001), and sent my app. I heard from my recruiter and then I got a call from a man in security from their Georgia office. I am in Calif. After talking extensively about my past, he stated that he liked how honest I had been, and that he was going to clear me for training. My recruiter contacted me and welcomed me to class starting the following Monday. When I got there, I paid them my last $100.00 for registration fees. They had us fill out the paperwork again, and we were scheduled to see several depts. for clearance...a Physical test, a drug test, and apparently a security clearance from the on-site person. I saw him first. He said that they generally like there to be a 10 year period between parole release and start of class, and he sent me home...without my $100.00. I contacted the security guy in Georgia and told him what happened. He said he was going to talk to his supervisor and call me back. When he called, he said that I wasn't sent home because of the 8 years, but rather because I also had two misdemeanors on my record....one of them in 1981!!! Since we had spoken extensively about everything on my record and I had gotten cleared, is it legal to terminate me based on another persons opinion, and don't they have to give me something in writing stating why they fired me, plus return my money. I never really registered! What can I do??

[telamarie]

If the COUNTY does the background check, you have no legal right to see it.

If the county hired a third party to conduct the check, then I believe you have to be given a copy IF you were turned down FOR REASONS DISCOVERED IN THE CHECK.

Someone with more knowledge than I have is free to correct any misstatements.