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Background checks — Maryland

Screening candidates for employment by conducting background and reference checks is a valuable way for Maryland employers to discover relevant information about potential employees. The information discovered may indicate whether an applicant will be a good fit for a position. On the other hand, the information discovered may suggest that an applicant is not qualified. An important benefit associated with thoroughly checking into the applicant’s background is that an employer may protect itself from potential liability associated with negligent hiring and negligent retention claims. See Recruiting and hiring for Negligent hiring.

Often, as a part of the application process, an employer will want to gather information from a prospective employee’s current or former employers. Under Maryland law, an employer may not be held liable for disclosing information related to the employee’s job performance or termination so long as the employer acted in good faith and the information was given to either:

  1. the prospective employer
  1. a federal, state, administrative or regulatory authority.

An employer is presumed to have acted in good faith unless it is proven by clear and convincing evidence that the employer acted with actual malice...


Please call us at (312) 960-9400 if this is an error or if you have any questions.