Hire Image’s Cunneen association’s board chairman

Employers can be held liable if something is out there for the world to see and they neglected looking at it.
Employers can be held liable if something is out there for the world to see and they neglected looking at it.

Christine Cunneen, of Hire Image LLC, was named 2014-15 chair of the board of directors of the National Association of Background Screeners. Cunneen began her career as a CPA for major companies, such as Barnes and Noble and ING. While she was pursuing her MBA, she had an accounting client for an investigative company. The company had noticed a demand for employment screening and Cunneen’s business proposal landed her a position as CEO to lead the employment-screening market. She later became the co-founder of Hire Image LLC, a nationwide background screening, employment-verification and drug-testing company.

PBN: At Hire Image, are there any screening services that are becoming more popular? Also, do you have an idea as to why this service is becoming a trend for employers – is there a new need to be met?
CUNNEEN: ‘Social media searches’ are becoming more popular, but employers beware. I suggest consulting with an employment attorney before initiating these searches. Many states have made it illegal for an employer to ask for an applicant’s or employee’s social media passwords. What an employer may see on social media can lead to potential religious, sexual or age-discrimination issues. Employers can avoid discriminatory practices by outsourcing to a professional background screener to research criteria such as talk of violence, libelous comments against an employer and drug use. There are no perfect searches, and no way to determine all of an applicant’s online identity. Employers can be held liable if something is out there for the world to see and they neglected looking at it.

PBN: After the announcement about your appointment, you mentioned that legislative advocacy will be a major priority for NAPBS. What sort of pro-screening language does the organization seek to incorporate into legislation?
CUNNEEN: We look forward to working with legislators to incorporate language in mandatory fingerprint bills to allow companies the option of continuing with their professional background screening companies as an alternative. Professional background screeners not only provide more robust consumer protections, but they provide more thorough and efficient searches for employers.

PBN: What is one of the strangest things you have uncovered while performing a background screening for an employer?
CUNNEEN: We see everything from murderers, rapists and child molesters, but most often see resume fraud where applicants lie or even hire fake companies to verify false information. One of the strangest cases involved a person who was hired before their background search was completed. The screening showed no record of this person existing. We uncovered a fake driver’s license showing he altered his name and had been dressing for work as a woman. His prior criminal record revealed a propensity for violence against pregnant women, and he had been using the ladies room since he was hired. •

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