RBIJ Joins Amicus Brief: Supporting the Integrity of Record Sealing Laws and Fair Hiring Practices

The Responsible Business Initiative for Justice (RBIJ) has joined Community Legal Services and The Clean Slate Initiative in filing an amicus brief in Doe v. InformData, LLC, currently before the Fourth Circuit. The case raises a question that matters to every employer who runs a background check: what happens when the records those checks turn up were never supposed to be there in the first place?  

About Doe v. InformData, LLC

Both job seekers and employers rely on the accuracy of criminal record reporting and background checks that comply with state record sealing laws. When records are sealed and removed from public view, employers, job seekers, state legislatures, and courts all expect those records will no longer be reported on a commercial background check.  

The Doe v. InformData, LLC case centers on a background check company reporting a record to an employer that had already been pardoned and sealed by the state of Delaware. By surfacing a record the law says should have been sealed, the background check undermined the legislative intent behind Delaware’s record-sealing law.  

A Ruling That Reaches Businesses Broadly

The consequences of this one decision go beyond one job seeker and one background check company. If background check companies can lawfully report records that states have sealed, employers are left making hiring decisions on information that was never supposed to be public — and potentially exposing themselves to liability under Fair Chance Hiring laws in the process. This resets the ground rules for every employer running background checks in states with record-sealing laws, including in the Fourth Circuit, where an estimated 5.6 million people have an arrest or conviction record.

Why RBIJ Joined This Brief

RBIJ has long worked with businesses to support the passage of automated record sealing laws, also called Clean Slate laws, because they remove workforce barriers for job applicants with criminal records and open up a vast, qualified talent pool for employers hiring in-demand positions. Now passed in 14 states and the District of Columbia, Clean Slate legislation gives individuals who have paid their debt to society and remained crime-free a genuine second chance at employment. Allowing background check companies to report records that states have already decided should no longer be visible to the public would undercut that progress. 

Clean Slate Laws Should Be Given Their Full Intended Effect 

Clean Slate was written to responsibly restrict access to and use of certain criminal records — and courts should uphold that intent fully. Businesses have shown up to support these laws because they work, allowing people with criminal records a chance to contribute to the workforce and pursue stable employment. Read the brief.