My colleague Peter Murphy and I have been talking a lot about background checks lately.  It’s easier than ever to run a basic Internet search on someone, but what information do you find? And are there any limts?

Today, Peter talks about two recent settlements of background check claims against employers. Both cost the employers

In a case that should send shivers through background check companies, particularly in Connecticut, a federal district court judge recently ruled that a job applicant could proceed to trial with her claims that two background check companies violated in the Fair Credit Reporting Act when they reported that she had been convicted of a crime

Over the last couple of days, an interesting debate has emerged about whether employers should use social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace to "screen" potential employees.

One corner, supported by the Delaware Employment Law Blog, argues that there are some real and tangible benefits to using the sites, as long as they are

BusinessWeek has an in-depth article this week on business checks and the accuracy of those records.  Its a thought-provoking article that suggests that background checks are a "Wild Wild West" where nothing is regulated.  Moreover, despite the headline that question the accuracy of background checks, the article itself doesn’t contain any statistics or studies to