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SCOTUS to Examine Background Checks

The Supreme Court of the United States is back in session and about to hear a case regarding employment screening.  The issue before them is essentially to what extent can an employer or in this case the federal government go in retrieving personal information as part of it employment screening program?

The case, National Aeronautics and Space Administration v. Nelson, was originally brought by 28 long-term, low-risk contract employees at a NASA research facility in California.  The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals thought the questions being asked where intrusive enough to issue an injunction.    One such question was about the employee’s illegal drug use in the past year.

Since many employers conduct some form of background checks as their employment screening program, the decision from SCOTUS could have untold ramifications.  Or not.  But there are basic issues of employer rights, and the concern for individual privacy rights.  Where is the balance point?  What is fair?    There is the ongoing issue of  employment credit checks, where access has been restricted in several states.   Recently, a similar bill to restrict access to credit reports was vetoed in California.

Some believe criminal records are not relevant, either.  Some.  By no means all.  I find it odd that that some think criminal records not to be relevant.  It is especially odd when an employee does snap out and commit violent acts it is the employer who is liable, who must face the embarrassment and endure the fact that someone was injured or killed in that workplace.

Stay tuned.

By Gordon Basichis

Gordon Basichis is the Co-Founder of Corra Group, specializing in pre-employment background checks and corporate research. He has been a marketing and media executive and has worked in the entertainment industry, the financial, health care and technology sectors. He is the author of the best selling Beautiful Bad Girl, The Vicki Morgan Story, a non-fiction novel that helped define exotic sexuality in the late twentieth century. He is the author of the Constant Travellers and has recently completed a new book, The Guys Who Spied for China, dealing with Chinese Espionage in the United States. He has been a journalist for several newspapers and is a screenwriter and producer.

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