nervous about background checks

[hye345]

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So, I am in the process of getting 2 background checks: one for a pharmacy student intern position at Target, and another for a pharmacy intern license in the state of Nebraska. Until today, I wasn't really worried about either.

But earlier today, I remembered an incident that happened to me in early 2011. Namely, I was accused of shoplifting at a supermarket chain. It was a big misunderstanding, but I didn't have a receipt on me, so I couldn't really defend myself. Long story short, I was (temporarily) banned from the store, and had to pay a fine through a law firm (a civil demand). No police were called though, and I never had to go to court.

On the one hand, I have undergone a few background checks since the incident (at least one for a job, two for pharmacy schools), and neither one of them came up in the red. On the other hand, I'm worried that maybe these past background checks were more lenient...

I already said that I have no criminal record/prosecutions for the Target background check (this was before I remembered the incident), but should I bring it up for the intern license? I know that for the intern license, it says that if we are accused of a misdemeanor and/or felony, we have to provide documentation. The problem is, I don't really have any documents for the incident: it was mostly handled at the store (through the store's theft prevention team), and through the law firm later on.

 

[HouTX]

So, I am in the process of getting 2 background checks: one for a pharmacy student intern position at Target, and another for a pharmacy intern license in the state of Nebraska. Until today, I wasn't really worried about either.

But earlier today, I remembered an incident that happened to me in early 2011. Namely, I was accused of shoplifting at a supermarket chain. It was a big misunderstanding, but I didn't have a receipt on me, so I couldn't really defend myself. Long story short, I was (temporarily) banned from the store, and had to pay a fine through a law firm (a civil demand). No police were called though, and I never had to go to court.

On the one hand, I have undergone a few background checks since the incident (at least one for a job, two for pharmacy schools), and neither one of them came up in the red. On the other hand, I'm worried that maybe these past background checks were more lenient...

I already said that I have no criminal record/prosecutions for the Target background check (this was before I remembered the incident), but should I bring it up for the intern license? I know that for the intern license, it says that if we are accused of a misdemeanor and/or felony, we have to provide documentation. The problem is, I don't really have any documents for the incident: it was mostly handled at the store (through the store's theft prevention team), and through the law firm later on.

you should be good. accused mean charged and dropped, charged and deferred adjudication, etc. key word is charged. seems like everything was handled internally

 

[Momus]

It didn't happen if no police/court involved...

 

[Ackj]

Spill the beans, this sounds like a funny story. How did they conclude you were "shoplifting?"

 

[hye345]

Spill the beans, this sounds like a funny story. How did they conclude you were "shoplifting?"

Well, a few days before the incident, I had gone in and gotten coffee, but had absentmindedly purchased the whole beans. As I didn't have a coffee grinder, it was a problem. My roommate told me that I could go down to the store and have them ground at one of the machines in the isles. So a few days later I went down there with my (open) bag of coffee beans, poured them into the machine, collected the grounds in the same bag, and put it in my back-pack (or bag, I don't remember). I paid for my other stuff, and was about to step out when one of the theft people stopped me and led me to the theft office. As I didn't have a receipt for the original beans, my side of the story wasn't too convincing 🙁

 

[Ackj]

Well, a few days before the incident, I had gone in and gotten coffee, but had absentmindedly purchased the whole beans. As I didn't have a coffee grinder, it was a problem. My roommate told me that I could go down to the store and have them ground at one of the machines in the isles. So a few days later I went down there with my (open) bag of coffee beans, poured them into the machine, collected the grounds in the same bag, and put it in my back-pack (or bag, I don't remember). I paid for my other stuff, and was about to step out when one of the theft people stopped me and led me to the theft office. As I didn't have a receipt for the original beans, my side of the story wasn't too convincing 🙁

That is awesome. I was just thinking it would be you walking out sipping on a drink that they thought you took from their cooler, but this is much better. It would be pretty ridiculous if you really did open up some bag of whole beans, grind them up and then take them, rather than just take them as is or swipe some pre-ground coffee.

 

[hye345]

That is awesome. I was just thinking it would be you walking out sipping on a drink that they thought you took from their cooler, but this is much better. It would be pretty ridiculous if you really did open up some bag of whole beans, grind them up and then take them, rather than just take them as is or swipe some pre-ground coffee.

Well, by the time I realized it was whole beans, I had opened it. And before I returned to the store, I had already used some of it (don't ask how I ground them...)

 

[Pojman]

I was a Loss Prevention Manager for a large retail corporation (similar to Target) for many years.

Here is the scoop - When you get stopped for shoplifting, there are two penalties. Civil penalties, and criminal penalties. It depends on what state you live in as to if you can charge a suspect on both counts or not.

So - civil penalties can possibly come up on a background check, or credit check, under the catagory of "Civil judgements". This is the catagory that any sort of money/property dispute would show up through small claims court. But!! It will ONLY come up in your background history if the civil penalty was court ordered. Also, this is not considered a "criminal offense". Many people get into money/property disputes and need the court to intervene. So, this does not come up in a criminal background check.

The way we used to charge shoplifters civil penalties is we would just send them a letter in the mail stating that they owed us a sum of the amount of the merchandise plus an added fine of ~200 dollars to cover the cost of having to deal with the shoplifter. If the shoplifter made reasonable arrangements to pay the fine, then it would never go to the court, and hence would never show up on their background check in any way.

I guess the question would be - was the civil penalty court ordered? You will definitely know the answer to that question because, if it was court ordered, you would have been served summons from the court in the form of certified mail. If nothing was processed by the court, then that incident will never show up on a criminal background check, or a credit check.

Another way to verify this would be to 1.) check your equifax credit report and look under the category of "other judgments". 2.) go to your country court registry and put your name in the search function. It should show you all criminal and civil judgments made against you since you turned 18.

So - there ya have it... You should be able to know for sure if this will be an issue or not, and if it is not, then there is no need to ever mention it. If it was not processed through the court, it is no different than paying a common medical bill or something.

 

[hye345]

I was a Loss Prevention Manager for a large retail corporation (similar to Target) for many years.

Here is the scoop - When you get stopped for shoplifting, there are two penalties. Civil penalties, and criminal penalties. It depends on what state you live in as to if you can charge a suspect on both counts or not.

So - civil penalties can possibly come up on a background check, or credit check, under the catagory of "Civil judgements". This is the catagory that any sort of money/property dispute would show up through small claims court. But!! It will ONLY come up in your background history if the civil penalty was court ordered. Also, this is not considered a "criminal offense". Many people get into money/property disputes and need the court to intervene. So, this does not come up in a criminal background check.

The way we used to charge shoplifters civil penalties is we would just send them a letter in the mail stating that they owed us a sum of the amount of the merchandise plus an added fine of ~200 dollars to cover the cost of having to deal with the shoplifter. If the shoplifter made reasonable arrangements to pay the fine, then it would never go to the court, and hence would never show up on their background check in any way.

I guess the question would be - was the civil penalty court ordered? You will definitely know the answer to that question because, if it was court ordered, you would have been served summons from the court in the form of certified mail. If nothing was processed by the court, then that incident will never show up on a criminal background check, or a credit check.

Another way to verify this would be to 1.) check your equifax credit report and look under the category of "other judgments". 2.) go to your country court registry and put your name in the search function. It should show you all criminal and civil judgments made against you since you turned 18.

So - there ya have it... You should be able to know for sure if this will be an issue or not, and if it is not, then there is no need to ever mention it. If it was not processed through the court, it is no different than paying a common medical bill or something.

Well, there were no court orders: we just got a letter in the mail from the company's attorneys, asking us to settle the dispute by paying, so we did.

Just to be safe, I did get a credit check from Equifax. I have nothing listed under public records, negative accounts, or collections.