t r u t h o u t | One Less Privacy Intrusion: Bill to End Pre-Employment Credit Checks

Let's stop with the Draconian methods. End pre employment credit checks NOW  Thank You!

I am not a lawyer but, this seems like an antitrust violation to me. I sent the following letter to the FTC. Feel free to copy and paste this. antitrust@ftc.gov

The powerful credit reporting companies are working together to stifle competition in the American job market and making a fortune by doing so. Their strategy is to extract money from employers by convincing them that Americans citizens who have bad or no credit, for what ever reason, are irresponsible, “potential” criminals and should not be hired. TransUnion, Equifax and Experian are making it difficult for a large number of highly skilled job applicants to enter the job market, simply because they are not wealthy.

Identity theft, uninsured medical expenses and poverty are not good reasons to reject any job applicant. Even a CPA can wind up being the victim of identity theft. Think about all of the well educated, sophisticated, wealthy people who got scammed by Bernie Maddoff. Should they be unable to seek employment for the next 7-10 years because they got scammed by a con man? If a person is applying for a job and their credit report reflects the fact that they had to go to the emergency room for uninsured medical care, should they also be denied a job?

Isn’t it illegal for businesses to act together in ways that can limit competition, or hinder opportunities for individuals to enter the job market? It creates a situation in which qualified applicants, with out any criminal history, are never even considered. There is no reasonable business justification for this practice. These people are applying for a job; not a line of credit.

This has also created a job market where people from other countries are hired in favor over qualified American citizens. Because foreign job applicants are not from this country, there is no credit report to check. Just based on this fact alone employers who engage in mandatory pre employment credit checks are in violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; which prohibits employer discrimination on the basis of national origin.

Stirring up the pot of hatred by trying to put a negative light on one or two groups of working people, is the same old trick that the super rich have been using for centuries. American history is full of false allegations which have been used to discriminate against different groups of people. There was a time when women were discouraged from becoming engineers or chemists because of the false allegation that all women are bad at math. There was also a time when businesses were legally allowed to discriminate against people who were not of European ancestry; and those people had no protection under the law.

No company should be allowed to run a credit report on a person for any reason other than an application for a line of credit. Auto insurance is not a line of credit. Medical insurance is not a line of credit. A promotion is not a line of credit. A JOB IS NOT A LINE OF CREDIT.