Do I have the right to file a lawsuit to an employer if he or she turned me down for a job due to bankruptcy?

I would like to know if the law prohibits and employer to deny an employee due to bankruptcy filed in his or her credit report.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 6:10 pm and is filed under Bankruptcy Law. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

10 Responses to “Do I have the right to file a lawsuit to an employer if he or she turned me down for a job due to bankruptcy?”

1. steve.c_50 Says:
   March 28th, 2009 at 12:17 am

   Nope. But you can get a free copy of your bureau report because of it, if you want. Hope that helps.

2. gomanyes562 Says:
   March 30th, 2009 at 1:47 am

   Nope, they are allowed to reject you if your credit history is unsatisfactory. Why else do you think they check your credit?

3. mj69catz Says:
   March 31st, 2009 at 2:02 am

   Nope, it does not. If it did, employers would not be able to get a copy of your credit report.

   They have a right to know if you are a responsible person. They check the credit report to determine whether or not you pay bills on time (will you be returning calls as you should?), and to see if you have enough sense to stay out of financial trouble. Filing bankruptcy indicates that you accrued more debt than you were capable of handling at the time. This shows that you may not be an acceptable risk for your future company.

   However, if you filed due to medical bills, and they were not hiring you due to medical risk, then you may have an ADA claim.

4. cippidydoodah Says:
   April 2nd, 2009 at 8:44 am

   I can see cases where an employer like a financial institution, credit union, bank etc. might not want to risk hiring someone with a background like that. It might have something to do with having their people bonded or some lingo like that. In cases like those it may indeed be up to the employer to determine if the risk is worth it or not in their own opinion so you might not have any legal recourse. Just my 2 cents.

5. K Says:
   April 3rd, 2009 at 6:53 pm

   love frivilous lawsuits! Just because your feelings got hurt just move on and dont try to find free money. A business has a right to know if they hire a responsible person or not and have the right to deny you on credit history.

6. Don T Says:
   April 3rd, 2009 at 10:53 pm

   Nope…some jobs do require a credit check….

7. Lisa Says:
   April 6th, 2009 at 3:18 pm

   Some jobs require credit checks like escrow agents and other jobs dealing with large sums of money so I would assume an employer could do that. They can pretty much do a lot of things as long as it has nothing to do with sex, race or religion.

8. Razor Jim Says:
   April 7th, 2009 at 3:38 am

   No it is legal to do a background check which can include looking at your credit. Most corporations are pulling credit now days.

9. gilliegrrrl Says:
   April 8th, 2009 at 12:28 am

   They have the right to inspect your financial history- basically they’re looking to see if you are responsible with your own finances, assuming that if you are responsible in that part of your life, you will be a responsible employee. And I’m sorry, I believe that the other answerer is incorrect- the ADA does not specify your right to sue an employer for not hiring you due to a medical bankruptcy. The ADA only helps you if you are denied work based on an actual disability.

10. laughter_every_day Says:
    April 11th, 2009 at 10:54 am

    you can sue but you cannot sue successfully. Bankruptcy is reason to doubt your trustworthiness and that is enough reason for any business decision in the private sector. For employment, no reason is necessary for rejecting someone. If a reason were required, your failure to meet your obligations would be more than adequate.