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[caomh]

I had been in talks with a small company in regards to me taking over their sales department. We had discussions and offered me the job of Director of Sales pending a reference check for an official offer letter of employment for the Director of Sales position.

I emailed him my three references he requested. He never called any of them. A week went by without any contact. I emailed him and he said he was waiting on a background check. After a couple more weeks from that reply, I sent some emails with no replies so I went to the office location. The owner was out of town, but the Vice President, that was in on the interview, said he would call him and ask him what the deal was. The VP called me back and relayed the information that my background check came back clean as a whistle, but the owner was not enthused by my credit history when he pulled my credit. I have a bankruptcy that was discharged a year ago from a car accident that resulted in $1.2 million in medical bills. My current credit is doing very well after my bankruptcy. He said that he would not offer me the position, but would offer me an entry level position instead. I have 7 years of industry experience which is much more than the VP and the Owner's experience in this industry combined. They said that my experience would help them improve their sales department and wanted to get me started as soon as possible once they formulated a compensation plan. Even showed me where my office would be.

I never signed any employment application, gave any of my information nor was I ever informed that my background or my credit would be checked. I live in Texas. What are the laws regarding this? Is this discriminatory? Is this worth seeking a lawyer and if so, what sort of lawyer should I search for? I know lawyers specialize in all different sorts of specialties so I wouldn't even know what to search for.

Thanks everyone in advance!

[emilek17]

for them to legally use a third party (consumer reporting agency) to do a background or credit check they MUST have a FCRA release, the same release is used for ALL consumer reports.
IF you did not provide them with this release then they could NOT legally obtain these reports....

you contact the FTC to report this violation, at this point in time there is little an attorney could do for you however you always have the right to see one (assuming you can afford it)....



an example of the FCRA release:
http://www.sbibackgroundcheck.com/forms/DisclosureReleaseForm.pdf

[chavivi]

Wow, 1.2 million in medical bills from an auto accident. You must have had numerous surgeries, rehab etc for a long time to accrue that much debt. About 50% of all bankruptcies filed in the US is due to medical bill debt, (not auto accident created), but many times due to serious illness. Did you explain to them of the accident, since this would be expected?

This sounds like a new "start up" company, if as you say that the VP and Owner do not have 7 years experience combined.

But, the thing that does not make sense, is that you did not fill out an application and/or forms? For the title or position of Director of Sales, and only ask for 3 references, would be stupid if they only did that.

http://www.myreferences.com/reference_checking_services.asp
Today, even in entry level jobs, most companies will have all applicants take a drug test and do a background check to verify employment, education, credit, criminal, etc. Most jobs are ALWAYS contingent on the check coming back clean, otherwise the offer is retracted.

For the type of job you are applying for, it would be logical to do a more thorough check vs an entry level job and expected.

Suggest you talk to an employment lawyer for legal advice.

good luck