My background check shows a felony conviction that's not mine. What are my legal options?

Question

I'm dealing with the worst situation of my life and I don't know how to fix it. I've worked in healthcare for 15 years with a completely clean record - never arrested, never in trouble, not even a parking ticket. I applied for a nursing position at a hospital I've always wanted to work at, went through multiple interviews, and they made me a conditional offer pending my background check. Then everything fell apart. The background check came back showing a felony drug conviction from eight years ago. When I saw it, my stomach dropped - not just because it would obviously disqualify me from working in healthcare, but because I have absolutely no idea what this conviction is. I've never been charged with anything, let alone convicted of a felony. I pulled the full background report and the conviction is from a different county, shows a different address than anywhere I've ever lived, and even lists a different height and weight than mine. This is clearly someone else's record, but it's under my name on the report. The hospital rescinded my offer immediately - no discussion, no chance to explain. The background screening company told me I can dispute it, but that it will take time to investigate. Meanwhile, my dream job is gone and now I'm terrified this felony will follow me to every other application. How do I get this removed and can I sue the company that put someone else's felony conviction on my record?

Consumer Attorneys · Accepted Answer

What happened to you is one of the most serious types of Fair Credit Reporting Act violations - a felony misattribution in an employment background check. When a screening company reports that you have been convicted of a felony when you have not, they are not just making a simple clerical error; they are potentially destroying your career and reputation. The fact that the conviction shows a different county, different address, and even different physical descriptors (height and weight) is strong evidence that the screening company failed to use adequate procedures to ensure they were reporting information about you rather than someone with a similar name. This type of error is precisely what the FCRA is designed to prevent and remedy.

Your situation involves multiple severe violations:

Reporting someone else's criminal conviction: This violates 15 U.S.C. § 1681e(b), which requires maximum possible accuracy
Failure to use sufficient identifiers: Using only name-based matching when other identifiers clearly don't match suggests unreasonable procedures
Employment harm: The rescinded job offer gives you clear, compensable damages
Reputational damage: Being falsely labeled as a convicted felon, especially in healthcare, causes severe harm

You have every right to be furious, and the law provides strong remedies. We can help you take immediate action to dispute this error, demand that the screening company investigate how such an obvious misidentification occurred, and seek correction of your report. More importantly, we can file a federal lawsuit against the screening company for negligently or willfully reporting a felony conviction that doesn't belong to you. In felony misattribution cases, courts often award significant damages including lost wages, emotional distress, damage to professional reputation, and in cases of willful violations, punitive damages to punish the company's reckless conduct. Under the FCRA, the screening company would be required to pay our attorney's fees if we win, so you won't pay anything out of pocket. Contact us immediately for a free consultation - felony misattribution cases require aggressive action and we're prepared to hold this screening company fully accountable.