Offered a contract position with staffing agency, and job was rescinded after background check

Question

I applied for a position with a national bank as a Residential Review Appraiser, I was contacted by a staffing agency and after a phone interview with two managers and the manager of the agency, I walled the next day and offered the position.They said I would have to have a background check which was OK. I was arrested and charged with a misdemeanor (shoplifting), which I did disclose and indicated what happened on the application / background paper work. Please note I was not convicted.

After they received the background check the recruiter called me and said there was an issue and she would call me back. Well about two weeks go by and my supposedly start date was drawing near. She then sent me and email saying they were moving ahead with other applicants which was a decision in part of the information they received. Also note: I would not be working with customers, or money, I would be working from home as reviewing appraisals, which has absolutely nothing to do with the job responsibilities. I have searched online for all info regarding this subject.

The Workplace Fairness (PDF, p. 65) states (emph. added)

Why should an arrest record be treated differently than a conviction record? An arrest record does not establish that a person engaged in criminal conduct. Arrest records may also be inaccurate (e.g., mistakenly identify the arrestee) or incomplete (e.g., do not state whether charges were filed or dismissed against the arrestee). Thus, an arrest record alone should not be used by an employer to take an adverse employment action.

Also per The recruiters own website manuals it states that

A Recruiter can avoid pitfalls of background checks by making sure, in every instance that they base their assessment of the results entirely on the candidates ability to do the job

Is there anything i can do? I am writing them a letter with this information and would like to know what I should include and or say on my behalf

Answer 1

Ultimately, the staffing agency can't force the client to do anything. That's why the bank and big businesses use staffing agencies. An "offer" (phrased loosely) is really always conditional to what the client wants. If the client is looking to absolutely minimize risk factors, you'd be a "known" risk just because something shows up on the background check.

Is it fair? From a "business" perspective, yes. But from the perspective of treating people nice, they don't give a damn about having gotten your hopes up. Just keep going. Don't let this get you down.