Civil servants in Tennessee settle background screening lawsuit

Civil servants in Mt. Juliet, Tennessee, recently settled a lawsuit with the Smyrna/Rutherford County Airport Authority and Wilson County commissioner Chris Sorey over what workers claimed was an unauthorized background screening. The Tennessean reports that nine former and current employees in Mt. Juliet had accused Sorey of using an airport police website to run background screenings on people without getting permission, according to an investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation in 2008. Among the former employees filing charges was Mt. Juliet city manager Randy Robertson, Mayor Linda Elam, public works secretary Amy Rooker, former chief building inspector Gary Branham and former vice mayor Will Sellers. After reaching an agreement out of court for an undisclosed amount, the plaintiffs said that they were happy with the outcome. "We're all very pleased with the settlement," said Sellers in an interview with the paper. Background screenings recently made national headlines, thanks to a Supreme Court ruling. The country's highest court recently said that federal employees could be subjected to checks regarding whether or not they had used illegal drugs in the past year.