This month we meet up with Due Diligence as he attempts to volunteer and work in the same
hospital that denied him his former job because of a controlled substance conviction.
Due Diligence has decided to volunteer during the summer for Quick Fix Hospital. Due is now
working for Clean Sweep providing janitorial services to Quick Fix Hospital. Due is a former
employee in the administrative offices at Quick Fix. Due left the hospital after he was
sentenced to spend 60 days in jail for possession of a controlled substance. Due reapplied at
the hospital but his conviction was revealed on his background investigation report from CI and
he was denied his former position. Due was able to obtain employment at Clean Sweep
despite the fact that they also ran a background check—a “national crim” search through a
company they found online called Cheap Check.
The new hospital Volunteer Staffing Director did not realize Due was a former employee of the
hospital. Due applied to volunteer in the recovery and detox center.
The Volunteer Staffing Office at Quick Fix hospital use CI’s Protection PlusTM to screen
potential volunteers. Protection PlusTM (see Inquiry Spotlight, page 3) includes results from
both a Multistate Criminal inquiry and a SSN & Address Information inquiry. The Volunteer
Staffing Office has a policy of checking all names (aliases/maiden names). Since criminal
records are searched by date of birth and name, each name an applicant has used should be
checked individually.
CI’s Multistate Criminal inquiry contains over 260 million criminal records. A majority of the
records are department of corrections data for higher level felonies. However, when CI and
other court researchers pull county court records, they are added to the database. CI did a
complete criminal history search for Due’s report when he sought reemployment with the
hospital. County court records and the New York Statewide inquiry records were searched for
each of Due’s residences; CI also searched Due’s alias, Bad Diligence (discovered from his
SSN & Address Information inquiry). The record for Due’s criminal possession of a controlled
substance was found under the name Bad Diligence. This was a Class A Misdemeanor and
this conviction would not be found by just searching the NYS Department of Correctional
Services. The record is also not included in Cheap Check’s national crim file—it was only
discovered through CI’s Multistate inquiry because the database is constantly updated with
additional records that are pulled during court searches.
Due’s controlled substance conviction would not have been uncovered because Clean Sweep
was unaware that their search did not include the SSN & Address Information inquiry, and thus,
all names used by the applicant. Because Cheap Check did not run the SSN & Address
Information Inquiry it did not discover Due’s alias—Bad Diligence. Cheap Check’s “national
crim” file has about 160 million records compared to CI’s 260 million.
The Volunteer Staffing Office denied Due’s application because of the results revealed by CI in
its report. Due did not indicate on his Volunteer Consent Form that he had been convicted of
a misdemeanor. Subsequently, the Volunteer Staffing Office realized that due was working in
the hospital—although he was employed by Clean Sweep. Through discussions with the HR
staff, Due’s path was uncovered and the administration offices contacted Clean Sweep
regarding their background investigations policy.
CI helped clarify the discrepancies in both results and policies for Quick Fix Hospital and Clean
Sweep. But it was too late for Clean Sweep and for Due. The hospital was Clean Sweep’s
largest client, however, they were unwilling to take on the cost of re-screening all the
employees with access to the building. They were also reluctant to put a new policy in place
that was on par with the hospital’s, even though the more complete background investigation
would cost less per applicant than they would pay an employee for one day on the job.
Quick Fix realized that they need to revisit their vendor’s employee background check
requirements. They need to be specific with what inquiries those background checks need to
include as well as requiring all names and jurisdictions be covered for a specific time frame.
Stay tuned and find out in the next issue where Due goes from here.
TO BE CONTINUED . . .
SEEKING A POSITION . . .
hospital that denied him his former job because of a controlled substance conviction.
Due Diligence has decided to volunteer during the summer for Quick Fix Hospital. Due is now
working for Clean Sweep providing janitorial services to Quick Fix Hospital. Due is a former
employee in the administrative offices at Quick Fix. Due left the hospital after he was
sentenced to spend 60 days in jail for possession of a controlled substance. Due reapplied at
the hospital but his conviction was revealed on his background investigation report from CI and
he was denied his former position. Due was able to obtain employment at Clean Sweep
despite the fact that they also ran a background check—a “national crim” search through a
company they found online called Cheap Check.
The new hospital Volunteer Staffing Director did not realize Due was a former employee of the
hospital. Due applied to volunteer in the recovery and detox center.
The Volunteer Staffing Office at Quick Fix hospital use CI’s Protection PlusTM to screen
potential volunteers. Protection PlusTM (see Inquiry Spotlight, page 3) includes results from
both a Multistate Criminal inquiry and a SSN & Address Information inquiry. The Volunteer
Staffing Office has a policy of checking all names (aliases/maiden names). Since criminal
records are searched by date of birth and name, each name an applicant has used should be
checked individually.
CI’s Multistate Criminal inquiry contains over 260 million criminal records. A majority of the
records are department of corrections data for higher level felonies. However, when CI and
other court researchers pull county court records, they are added to the database. CI did a
complete criminal history search for Due’s report when he sought reemployment with the
hospital. County court records and the New York Statewide inquiry records were searched for
each of Due’s residences; CI also searched Due’s alias, Bad Diligence (discovered from his
SSN & Address Information inquiry). The record for Due’s criminal possession of a controlled
substance was found under the name Bad Diligence. This was a Class A Misdemeanor and
this conviction would not be found by just searching the NYS Department of Correctional
Services. The record is also not included in Cheap Check’s national crim file—it was only
discovered through CI’s Multistate inquiry because the database is constantly updated with
additional records that are pulled during court searches.
Due’s controlled substance conviction would not have been uncovered because Clean Sweep
was unaware that their search did not include the SSN & Address Information inquiry, and thus,
all names used by the applicant. Because Cheap Check did not run the SSN & Address
Information Inquiry it did not discover Due’s alias—Bad Diligence. Cheap Check’s “national
crim” file has about 160 million records compared to CI’s 260 million.
The Volunteer Staffing Office denied Due’s application because of the results revealed by CI in
its report. Due did not indicate on his Volunteer Consent Form that he had been convicted of
a misdemeanor. Subsequently, the Volunteer Staffing Office realized that due was working in
the hospital—although he was employed by Clean Sweep. Through discussions with the HR
staff, Due’s path was uncovered and the administration offices contacted Clean Sweep
regarding their background investigations policy.
CI helped clarify the discrepancies in both results and policies for Quick Fix Hospital and Clean
Sweep. But it was too late for Clean Sweep and for Due. The hospital was Clean Sweep’s
largest client, however, they were unwilling to take on the cost of re-screening all the
employees with access to the building. They were also reluctant to put a new policy in place
that was on par with the hospital’s, even though the more complete background investigation
would cost less per applicant than they would pay an employee for one day on the job.
Quick Fix realized that they need to revisit their vendor’s employee background check
requirements. They need to be specific with what inquiries those background checks need to
include as well as requiring all names and jurisdictions be covered for a specific time frame.
Stay tuned and find out in the next issue where Due goes from here.
TO BE CONTINUED . . .
SEEKING A POSITION . . .
| MR. DUE DILIGENCE |
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| DUE DILIGENCE: NOT ALL BACKGROUND CHECKS ARE CREATED EQUAL |
DATE: JULY 2006
COMMERCIAL INVESTIGATIONS LLC
