An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 3 – Hiring

not include any governmental agency whose records are maintained primarily for traffic safety, law enforcement, or licensing purposes . . .” 158 Thus, any third party that a school hires to conduct reference checks on its behalf meets the definition of an investigative consumer reporting agency. An investigative consumer report is a “report in which information on a consumer’s character, general reputation, personal characteristics, or mode of living is obtained through any means.” 159 Reference checks commonly address the character, reputation, and mode of living of prospective employees and satisfy the definition of an investigative consumer report under the ICRAA. Job applicants are protected under the ICRAA. The ICRAA provides that an investigative consumer report may only be procured for limited purposes, such as employment purposes. 160 An investigative consumer report is defined as “a report used for the purpose of evaluating a consumer for employment, promotion, reassignment, or retention as an employee.” 161 A consumer includes a “natural individual who has made application to a person for employment.” 162 c. A School’s Obligations When It Uses An Investigative Consumer Reporting Agency To Perform A Background Investigation. When a school hires an investigative consumer reporting agency to perform a background investigation, it must abide by numerous restrictions under the ICRAA.

 An investigative consumer reporting agency must permit a consumer to inspect its files, “except that the sources of information, other than public records and records from databases available for sale, acquired solely for use in preparing an investigative consumer report and actually used for no other purpose need not be disclosed.” 163  At any time before the report is procured or caused to be made, the school must make a “clear and conspicuous disclosure” to the applicant in a document containing only the following disclosures: (1) An investigative consumer report regarding the applicant may be obtained; (2) The purpose of the report, which must be a permissible one; (3) The report may include information on the applicant’s character, general reputation, personal characteristics, and mode of living; (4) Identity of the investigative consumer reporting agency conducting the investigation, including its name, address, and telephone number; and (5) Notice of the nature and scope of the investigation requested, including a summary of the right to inspect the report. 164  The school must provide the applicant a means by which he or she may indicate on a written form, by means of a box to check, that the consumer wishes to receive a copy of any report that is prepared. 165

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 65