Courthouse Intern running background checks on employees at a different job

WA-Several weeks ago I hired a girl for a front desk position that has a parttime job as an intern at the local courthouse. I was told today that she ran a background check on another employee and told him(she has a crush on him). He told me that he had never given his last name to her so she must of used his timecard. He was upset by this. She gave him details she would only know if she had run it.He probably has not been the only one she has run.

Of course this was unethical and I will have to let her go. However, I got a DUI 2 years ago and a couple other employees have problems on their history. I asked my PO if he could tell if someone had accessed my records recently and he said there was no way to tell(I found that strange because you can see if someone accessed your Credit). Anyway, he wants me to give him her name so he can forward it to the Prosecuting Attorney.

I am struggling with this-I am very visible in my position in this small community and know the Sheriffs at the courthouse(I live in a different city an hour away). How should I handle this? If I turn her in will I be opening a can of worms?Washington.

Give me a name and I can find out things about them. Many court records are available online and public record. It is not unusual to gather information on someone you have a love interest in before you go out as a safety precaution.

fryingpan said:

Of course this was unethical

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Why?

and I will have to let her go.

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That is your call. But not for the reason you stated.

However, I got a DUI 2 years ago and a couple other employees have problems on their history. I asked my PO if he could tell if someone had accessed my records recently and he said there was no way to tell(I found that strange because you can see if someone accessed your Credit). Anyway, he wants me to give him her name so he can forward it to the Prosecuting Attorney.

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For what reason? Nothing she did was illegal.

I am struggling with this-I am very visible in my position in this small community and know the Sheriffs at the courthouse(I live in a different city an hour away). How should I handle this? If I turn her in will I be opening a can of worms?Washington.

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Turn her in for what?

How would she have had access to whatever databases would be necessary to do a background check? Does your company subscribe to such databases and is doing background checks part of her job description or not?

If you know what company she got the background information from, it shouldn't be too difficult to check with the company to find out exactly what information she got and what she accessed. If she got the information from a county online database that is available to the public, then it would be hard to fault her for that.

You need to be discussing this with your personnel/human relations department or an attorney to find out exactly what information is legally permissible to receive and what is not permissible in a background check, and then determine whether you have grounds to reprimand her for doing this or not. At the very least she should be warned in writing not to do it again or she could face termination. If she is allowed to keep doing this, the temptation for her to commit identity theft is going to be very strong.

DANDY DON IN OKLAHOMA ([email protected])