INTRODUCTION Following September 11, 2001, many companies adopted Ben Franklin's adage, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" (Franklin, c. 1736). Seeking to reduce workplace violence by unknown workers, business increasingly verified the identities of prospective and current employees. Additionally, with the upsurge in negligent hiring and retention lawsuits, employers continued their prevention efforts by checking the qualifications and backgrounds of prospective and current employees. Despite these efforts at preventive litigation, many companies failed to receive their pound of cure. Employees and applicants have slapped organizations with lawsuits alleging that the very pre-employment checks implemented to avoid workplace violence and tort litigation as well as to verify background information are themselves flawed. Plaintiffs have filed claims of negligence, false light invasion of privacy (making public statements that give an inaccurate impression), defamation (untruthful assertions affecting one's reputation), and violation of the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) as amended. Many of these allegations are in the beginning stages of litigation; however, some have been dismissed, others are proceeding to trial, and a few have been settled out of court.
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