Paper instructions:
1. Be sure to devote the first two pages of your analysis to an overview of the arguments made in each of the two articles and the other two pages of your analysis to a discussion of the
strengths and weaknesses in the arguments made in both of the articles and your opinion regarding the issue.
2. Pleas at least one strength and one weakness for each of the two articles. You should use the words “strength” and “weakness” in your analysis so that is clear to me what points you
consider to be strengths and weaknesses.
3. please do not use bullet items or numbered items.
120 ISSUE 3 ; Would Mandatory Background Checks for All . . . 2»-
ZOOS P€I1l1derg1:aSS’ difgigrulties St(i31I’Il’-lied}-f1’((?ll’l’l a pliegictips jlpb tat Rite Afid. By late Just by dint of their heft and p
W en_ e was , Yéars 0, ’ _e a rfeac e_ e F5 flfng 0 manage’ compile can seem authoritative.
ment as a shift supervisor in a Rite Aid store in Philadelphia. His bosses trusted tains errors mnuendos or Oum
him to oversee cashiers, bank deposits, and merchandise deliveries. Then, in «You “gong benevfe what P
January, 2006, a store official accused him of stealing goods and underpaying has done interviews Since 199
for DVDs. He denied the accusations, but the official said police were waiting a midsize firm in Owings Mills
outside to arrest him if he did not confess. Pendergrass wrote a statement but meats from 3 fath e 1, who Said
wouldn’t admit to theft. He was soon fired anyway. missed so much work at a farm
Later, at a hearing for unemployment compensation, Pendergrass was applicant of stealing and dema
vindicated. A state labor referee ruled that Rite Aid had not proved its allega- (The firm declined.) “We Put eve
tions and awarded him nearly $1,000 in benefits. But Rite Aid had already employment Checks for retailer
submitted its theft report to a database used by more than 70 retailers and engineering firm Her boss Ric
run by ChoicePoint, the largest screening firm for corporate employers in the Background say; the Comlgany
US. Based in a leafy Atlanta suburb, ChoicePoir1t says it checks applicants for a huge respénsibility to mankm
more than half of the country’s 100 biggest companies, including Bank of But Lester Rose“ aveteran
America, Un1tedH_ealth‘Group, and United Parcel Service. Because of Pender- screening Resources in Novato’
grass tainted ChoicePoir1t file, retailers CVS Caremark and Target also reiected West “.5 an unregulated mdust
him for jobs.
l = i1
Pendergrass, now 27, makes lattes at a Starbucks in Philadelphia. The cof- on cofiifiggcfifgfits: a l2i1_§::_l
fee chain doesn’t use a screening firm for entry-level hires. Pendergrass earns Mich is waiting for his name
$17,000 a year, or 30% less than he did at Rite Aid, and fears his career has translgortation business In Ma
been derailed. “I worked hard in that store, and none of this stuff was true,” he judge ruled that Cane} was
says. “lwould be locked up somewhere if I stole $73000.” making legitimate Complaints a
Rite Aid declines to comment. A ChoicePo_int spokeswoman says the hauled loads for the Mondovn
company’s background report merely conveyed information provided by a fired in June 2005 The .udge
former employer‘ and back pay and orderecll Mart
record information” in a report
Fat Profits in Falls Church, Va. Once an ar
merit, USIS was privatized in 1
Background screening has become a highly profitable corner of the HR world. At mm an emp1oymem_hiStory
the screening division of First Advantage, based in Poway, Calif., profits soared Called Drive_A_CheCk or DAC
7%dlast gear, to izfiifmillion; revefiue grew 20%, to $23i$illion. Igireifight, Despite his legal victory’
ase in rvine, a 1 ., reported It at earnings iumped . o, to ‘$ mi ion, dismissed him for «excessive Co
last year on revenues of $69 million. To grab a piece of this growing market, “No one will hire me o Says C
Reed Elsevier Group, the Anglo-Dutch information provider, agreed to acquire savings to Support his’ Wife an
ChoicePoint for $4.1 billion in February-at a 50% premium to its stock price. port Services «told me I had ext
Industry surveys show why Reed Elsevier was eager to expand its screen- them 1 won my case ., Hum dec
ing business. In a 2004 study by the Society for Human Resource Management, Marten Transport has app
96% of personnel executives said their companies conduct background checks my Stephen Dfrumo Says it W
on iob candidates, up from 51% in 1996. Two-thirds of larger companies say the’refeIenCE to excesgive grieva
they outsource screening, and many now vet current employees in addition rate portrayal of what led to his
to apphCam_S’ _ _ _ , _ _ has addressed Carter’s safety co
Screening often goes far beyond the familiar checking of public crimr- John Griffith 47 Won 3
nal records. For $60 to $80 per applicant, ChoicePoint and its rivals assemble a aimt his former’em’10 er A
digital dossiers of educational degrees and credit histories as well as interviews Ed e ruled that the Cgmyala
with friends, past bosses. and colleagues. Call-center workers wearing headsets Loriplaining about the Sgfeg
inquire about work habits, personal character, and drug or alcohol problems. remove unfavorable mformatio
118 ISSUE 8 I Would Mandatory Background Checks for All . . . ? I
was committed “under the color of employn1ent”-and that also should be
determined by the jury, said the court. Therefore, the matter was reversed and Chad Terhune
remanded to trial. I
The bottom line is that companies are advised to obtain a background
check on each agent hired to represent the company, whether mandated or not.
The Troub
Checks: Em
Become a
Always
Abstract (Summa
Background screening has be
I At the screening division of
$29 million; revenue grew 2
ings jumped 44%, to $9 mill‘
ing often goes far beyond t
Just by dint of their heft an
compile can seem authoritati
tains errors, innuendos, or o
industry and president of E
tially, it’s the Wild, Wild We
and not a huge emphasis on
screening.
Theodore Pendergrass w
greens pharmacy chain reje
company told him a backgr
that a past employer had acc
chandise” totaling $7,313.
business of background scre
sorting mostly mid- and low
piled by ChoicePoint, its m
Some employers have grow
11 terrorist attacks. Others I
died by in-house human .res
up the phone themselves.
more dependent on mass-p
9 anonymous, and sometimes
‘J From Brrsinesswr-ek, June 9, 2008
Reprinted by permission of Bloo
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