Criminal checks

You probably don’t know who Wendy Adcock is, but right now she’s the focus of a lot of attention in Columbus, Ohio. That’s the home of the Ohio State University (OSU) who hired Adcock in 2005 as an accounts clerk at the university libraries.

The OSU student paper, the Lantern, describes the situation in a story headlined “Adcock’s case reveals flaws in OSU employee background checks.” It might reveal some flaws in your system as well.

When she was accused of stealing $13,500 from the university libraries, it turned out that she had been convicted of stealing $11,000 from a previous employer. The Lantern wants to know how that could happen. The answers should get you thinking about your process.

When Adcock was hired by OSU she hadn’t been convicted of the $11,000 theft. She was still being investigated.

If you look at the report for a criminal background check, you’ll see the word “sentenced.” You won’t see “investigated for” or even “arrested.” That’s because we live in America.

The way we conduct our legal affairs, a person who is charged with a crime or investigated as a suspect is presumed innocent until a court declares that he or she is guilty. That’s a […]