Background Checks

HHS Considers Amending HIPAA Privacy Rule to Permit Disclosure of Mental Health Information for Firearm Background Checks

by Cory Fox, Lynn Sessions | BakerHostetler on 5/8/2013

Adding yet another wrinkle to the nation’s contentious gun control debate, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) soliciting information and public...more

Collateral Damage: Job Hunting with a Criminal Record

by Raiser & Kenniff, PC on 5/7/2013

The National Employment Law Project — a non-profit organization and advocacy group — estimates 65 million Americans have a criminal record. Some 700,000 people are released from state and federal prisons annually. When the...more

Proposed Class Action Lawsuit Underscores Legal Risks to Employers Using Background Checks

by Ryan L. DiClemente, Robert Nagle | Saul Ewing LLP on 4/26/2013

A putative nationwide class action alleging violations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) was recently filed against Toll Brothers Real Estate Inc. (“Employer”) in the United States District Court for the Eastern...more

Senate Rejects Bill To Close Gun Background Check Loophole

by Aaron Kase | Lawyers.com on 4/18/2013

The U.S. Senate today rejected a bill that would have closed a major loophole in federal gun laws by subjecting firearm purchases made at gun shows and online to background checks....more

CFTC Issues Proposed Rule to Clarify Responsibilities of Clerical Employees of SDs and MSPs

by Kevin M. Foley, Adam J. Spector | Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP on 4/16/2013

In general, Commodity Futures Trading Commission Regulation 23.22 prohibits a swap dealer (SD) or major swap participant (MSP) from permitting an associated person (AP) of the SD or MSP to effect or be involved in effecting...more

Workplace Safety, Security and Employee Gun Rights - Best Practices To Mitigate Workplace Violence Risk

by Anjali Chavan, Michael Hawkins, Michael Mattingly | Dinsmore & Shohl LLP on 3/19/2013

In the wake of the mass shootings that continue around the country, the President, some members of Congress, state and local officials and many advocacy groups are pursuing an aggressive agenda to increase safety measures and...more

Hospitality Update, No. 1, March 2013: "And By The Way, Are You A Criminal?"

by Andria Ryan | Fisher & Phillips LLP on 3/7/2013

Getting the answers, without violating the new EEOC guidelines - According to some studies, over 90% of employers conduct criminal-background checks for some job applicants and over 70% of employers conduct background...more

N.J. Legislature Introduces Legislation Imposing Restrictions on Pre-Employment Inquiries into Criminal History of Applicants

by Lisa Lewis | Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP on 3/7/2013

In February 2013, identical bills aimed at reducing pre-employment discrimination against individuals with criminal histories were introduced in the New Jersey Senate and the New Jersey Assembly (S2586 and A3837). Both bills...more

Detecting and Preventing Fraud and Embezzlement

by William H. Devaney, Jeffrey S. Tenenbaum | Venable LLP on 3/6/2013

In this presentation: - Recent Examples of Nonprofit Embezzlement - Why Does Employee Fraud Occur? - Why Are Nonprofits Frequently the Victims of Embezzlement? - External Audits - Fraud Risk...more

Are “Working Interviews” Legal?

by Michael Kelsheimer | Looper Reed & McGraw, P.C. on 2/25/2013

One of my dental practice clients called this week to inquire about an idea they heard of recently called a “working interview.” The idea is to have an hygienist come in for a couple of days to find out whether they are good...more

New Background Check Forms Required under the FCRA

by Michael Gamboli, Kimberly McCarthy, Alicia Samolis | Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP on 2/25/2013

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”) provides guidelines which must be followed in order for employers to gather certain information about employees or applicants. Generally, there are two types of reports: a consumer...more

EEOC’s Credit Screening Loss Is Not Necessarily an Employer’s Win

by Foley & Lardner LLP on 2/19/2013

On January 28, 2013, a federal court in Ohio handed the EEOC a loss when it ruled in favor of several employers for their use of a third party to perform credit checks on candidates for hire. The EEOC claimed that the...more

Employers Faced January 1, 2013, Deadline to Update Fair Credit Reporting Act Notice

by Nikole Mergo | Nexsen Pruet, PLLC on 2/18/2013

Originally published in SC Bar's Employment and Labor Law Newsletter: Winter 2013 on February 15, 2013 Effective January 1, 2013, there was a new form that employers must provide prospective or current employees when...more

New Jersey Could Join Ban The Box Trend

by David B. Weisenfeld | XpertHR - Partnered with LexisNexis on 2/13/2013

New Jersey legislators have proposed a law to prevent employers in the Garden State from asking prospective employees about their criminal history on job applications. This "Ban the Box" proposal refers to the box often...more

Ohio District Court Dismisses EEOC Suit Challenging Credit Check Policies

by Greg Mersol | BakerHostetler on 2/13/2013

Anyone looking for a case rich in irony need look no further than EEOC v. Kaplan Higher Learning Edu. Corp., Case No. 1:10 CV 2882 (N.D. Ohio, Jan. 28, 2013). Kaplan provides, among other services, online college training,...more

Despite Continuing Grace Period, Employers Should Switch To New Fair Credit Reporting Act Notices Now

by Doug Hass | Franczek Radelet P.C. on 2/11/2013

Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Congress transferred rule-making authority for the relevant portions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to the...more

New Year, New FCRA Forms

by Kara Shea | Butler, Snow, O'Mara, Stevens and Cannada,... on 2/8/2013

Do you use a third party service to conduct background checks on job applicants or employees? If yes, then you should take note of new forms which employers are required to use for this purpose, effective January 1, 2013. ...more

HIPAA, Gun Control, and President Obama's Executive Actions: What You Need to Know

by Cory Fox | BakerHostetler on 2/8/2013

All of the excitement surrounding the publication of the HIPAA Omnibus Final Rule may have overshadowed another very important development in health information privacy. On January 16, 2013, the Obama Administration released...more

New Year Brings New FCRA Forms for Employers and Possibly Additional Notification Requirements

by Lisa E. Cleary, Nivritha Ketty, Adam Pinto, Catherine A. Williams | Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP on 2/7/2013

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the primary enforcer of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) rang in the new year by issuing new forms for users of consumer reports. Copies of the forms that went into effect...more

EEOC Suit Against Employer Screening Applicants Based on Credit History Information Dismissed

by Rod Fliegel, Jennifer Mora, William Simmons | Littler on 2/5/2013

In April 2012, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) issued its updated enforcement guidance concerning how, in its view, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) restricts an employer's discretion...more

K-Mart To Pay $3 Million For FCRA Background Check Violations

by David B. Weisenfeld | XpertHR - Partnered with LexisNexis on 2/1/2013

K-Mart has become the latest employer felled by the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA). The company announced it will pay $3 million to settle claims that it failed to properly warn job applicants that they could be denied...more

Four Words the Fair Credit Reporting Act Has Class Action Plaintiffs and Their Lawyers Repeating: "Show Me The Money!"

by Nathan Schacht | BakerHostetler on 1/30/2013

Over the past few years, the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the federal law mandating, among other things, procedures and reporting requirements employers must follow when conducting background checks through a third party...more

Massachusetts Expands Background Check Law To Close Loophole

by David B. Weisenfeld | XpertHR - Partnered with LexisNexis on 1/30/2013

A new Massachusetts law will require all newly-hired teachers at public and private schools, bus drivers and others working at schools or child care programs with direct unsupervised contact with children, to undergo national...more

2013 Labor And Employment Law Checklist

by Peter Donati, Laura Friedel, Kenneth Kneubuhler | Levenfeld Pearlstein on 1/29/2013

Each year, LP’s Labor & Employment Practice Group is pleased to provide a short checklist of steps that all companies should consider taking in order to measure their readiness for the coming year. We hope that you find this...more

Criminal Background Checks? The FTC Knows There’s an App for That

by Jeff Ifrah on 1/25/2013

As we cautioned in a September post, the FTC is stepping up enforcement actions against mobile app developers for failure to comply with consumer protection principles. This month, the FTC took another major step in that...more

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