A Maryland woman lost her accounting job after a background check performed through the FBI's criminal database indicated, erroneously, that she was unsuitable for the job, according to the Baltimore Sun.

Eschol Amelia "Amy" Studnitz had been working for Corporate Mailing Services since August 2008 as a senior accountant.

Last July, after CMS won a contract to handle mail for the Social Security Administration, the administration performed a routine background check on Studnitz and other CMS employees, who needed a low-level security clearance to work on the contract. The SSA subsequently sent CMS a letter stating that the background check showed Studnitz was "unsuitable" to work on the contract. The SSA letter didn't say what the background check had uncovered.

Rather than simply keep her off the contract, CMS decided to fire Studnitz. The company gave her just a few minutes to leave its offices.

Studnitz maintained that she had no criminal history and, indeed, the only court record the Baltimore Sun was able to uncover on her was a civil case related to a $11,676 judgment that a nursing home had been awarded in 2005. Studnitz told the paper this actually involved a suit against her late father's estate.

About two weeks later, the Social Security Administration sent a letter to CMS backing her claim of innocence. The letter said Studnitz had passed a pre-screening check and could work on the SSA contract pending a final determination. It made no mention of the previous letter that claimed she was unsuitable.

That should have settled the matter. But instead of reinstating her in her job, CMS told her to re-apply for her position. After she did so, the company wrote back saying it was reorganizing the department and would get back to her. The company finally sent her a letter last week saying it had no intention of restoring her job.

The company claimed it had uncovered some problems that would be "detrimental" to her performing her job successfully. The company said she had failed to process some invoices or bill customers at new rates after they'd been raised. Studnitz has disputed the claims.

Studnitz has since learned that an unspecified error in the FBI's National Criminal Information Center database was the cause for the SSA's initial determination that she was "unsuitable. The NCIC database is a repository for criminal records and information on fugitives, stolen property and missing persons. Information is fed to the database from local, state. and federal law-enforcement agencies around the country. Canada uses the database to refuse border entry to anyone with a criminal record.

Studnitz is now considering a lawsuit. Since losing her job, she has not been able to find a new position anywhere. She has fallen behind on her mortgage payments and recently received a shut-off notice from her local utility company.

Photo of NCIC database servers courtesy FBI

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