Once Duey opened Doug’s report, he saw the unimaginable.  Doug tested positive for opiates and marijuana.  Unsure of what to do with that information, he called Justin and Sue into his office; as Sue had become the Human Resource Coordinator.  Justin and Duey quickly agreed they could not hire Doug  due to the test results.  They then tasked Sue with the job of letting Doug know that they would not be moving forward with the hiring process.

Unsure of the correct way to let Doug know that he would not be obtaining the job, Sue reached out to Commercial Investigations to see if they had any advice on how to handle this.  One of the investigators explained to Sue that because they were not hiring Doug based on information found on his background screening, they would have to use the preadverse and adverse action process to inform Doug.

“Preadverse action letter?  What’s that?” Sue asked. “The preadverse action letter is a letter that gets sent to the subject stating that you will be taking adverse action based on the report findings” the investigator explained. They went on to talk about how with the letter you must include certain things like a copy of the FCRA Summary of Rights and Article 23-A, if in New York State.  Once the subject receives that letter, in approximately seven to ten business days, the adverse action letter should be sent to the subject informing them that they will not be getting the job.

Sue learned that the whole process is made even easier via Commercial Investigations new software, CIware 2.0.  In the software, the preadverse and adverse action letters can be auto-generated from within the subject’s report.  All she would have to do is download and mail them out.  Sue knew this was something she could handle.

Sue sent the preadverse action letter to Doug. However, Sue forgot that the preadverse action letter gives the subject the opportunity to reach out to Commercial Investigations and dispute findings in the report.  Doug did just that!

CI called the lab to have Doug’s sample tested again to verify the results.  The second test also came back positive for opiates and marijuana.  Doug tried to convince CI that this was due to a prescription he was on.  CI reached out to the medical review officer (MRO)  that spoke to Doug after he tested positive.  The doctor stated that Doug did not have a valid prescription.

After CI finished reinvestigating, Doug reached out to Duey and Justin to beg and plead for a job.  He told Duey that he never did drugs on purpose.  He was just at a party where everyone around him was doing drugs and he must have gotten a contact high.  Justin rolled his eyes and said, “Pills don’t work like that.  Besides, didn’t you say you had a prescription?”  Doug stuttered and promptly hung up the phone.

Duey then had Sue send out the adverse action letter.  Sue knew she was doing the right thing and was being FCRA compliant.  CI made the whole process easy for them.  She even sent the letter via certified mail so they would have a receipt that Doug did indeed receive the letter.  Overall, Sue felt confident that she was going about this the right way and felt she could use the same process moving forward if need be.

Confident in their decision Duey and Justin did not hire Doug. But they did ask Sue to repost their open position because they will need some new hires, and fast!

Who will Duey and Justin hire?

Will they find enough employees to keep their business afloat?

Is this the last we will hear from Doug?

Stay tuned!