Bay Area teacher wrongly ID’d as convict in background check; why her last name ‘Smith’ is to blame

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) — It was a very ”unwelcome to California” for a new school teacher in San Jose.

She and her family had just moved here from Minnesota, when a background check upended their new life.

She was mistakenly tagged as a convict — and had to prove she was not. And it can happen to anyone.

And it does happen, especially if you have a common last name. This teacher has never been arrested — but someone else’s criminal record was pinned to her name. A big reason? Her last name is “Smith.”

Jodi Smith and her family had just moved from Minnesota to the Bay Area last year, when trouble shook their new lives.

“I don’t know, I think I was just in shock,” Smith said. “Literally we had just moved our family 2,000 miles… and then this.”

Her husband had been hired by Apple; Smith got a job teaching special ed in the Oak Grove School District of San Jose.

It was enough to support their family of four in the pricey Bay Area.

Until it wasn’t.

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“I just moved to the most expensive state in the freaking country. And I immediately lose my job. And that was freaking scary,” Smith said.

It happened just weeks into the last school year. Smith was suddenly pulled out of her classroom.

“They call me into the office, the head of HR… my background check, like it came back that I lied on it,” she said. “Well, my heart stopped.”

It turned out that the state’s Commission on Teacher Credentialing — known as CTC — had denied her a teaching credential.

The CTC said a background check showed she was convicted of driving under the influence, in Tulare County, in 2009.

But that was impossible.

“Like, this isn’t me. And it was so hard because you can’t talk to anybody. I just kept saying this isn’t me, this isn’t me, and it didn’t matter because they weren’t gonna do anything about it,” Smith said.

Smith noted her fingerprint check showed no criminal record.

At first the CTC said she had to go to the courthouse and obtain the court record, and file it with a new application that included the conviction. And by the way, she’d have to pay a new application fee.

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Smith wrote back to the CTC, saying it wasn’t her court record. The CTC said to take it up with the Department of Justice, which did the background check.

“I mean it was incredibly infuriating!” Smith said.

Weeks later the DOJ did send that rap sheet. Turns out it listed arrests of three people who all share Smith’s last name: Smith.

One of them had been convicted of that DUI.

Smith said a disclaimer noted the report was a “soft” background check, based on names and numbers, not fingerprints.

The CTC used it anyway.

“How on earth do you think you’re going to do a name background check with a name like ‘Smith’ being one of the most common names in the country… and then the CTC says, yep, this makes sense, let’s deny her credentials,” Smith said.

Smith filed a dispute with the DOJ to remove that DUI from her record.

But the wheels turned slowly.

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And students were in class. She was the teacher… but she had no credentials. Just a crime on her record.

“I hid in my classroom, and I had my door shut 90% of the time and cried,” Smith said, tears falling as she spoke to 7 On Your Side.

Smith was re-assigned as a teacher’s aide, then as an emergency substitute — still running the class, but earning a fraction of her normal wages.

“I didn’t know if it was right or wrong that I was showing up as a sub… if teaching these kids without a credential is legal,” she said. “And then on the other side, I’m like, these are children sitting in front of me that need a teacher. Their parents expect them to be taught.”

“I still showed up to work. Put a smile on my face. When you saw me, I was dying inside,” Smith said.

The DOJ did investigate her case. By December, it found that indeed Smith was not the person convicted in 2009. Jodi’s name wasn’t even “Smith” back then — she was single, using her maiden name, Stanton.

The DOJ cleared her record. Smith got her credential.

But damage was done; $24,000 in lost wages, time lost with students, and months of anguish.

7 On Your Side asked the DOJ and CTC about the toll of a mistake. They did not comment.

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But the Attorney General’s office tells us that the DOJ is required by law to provide all possible matches for criminal records using many identifiers, not just fingerprints.

The CTC tells us only that it’s up to applicants to clear mistakes on their records.

The Attorney General’s website says comprehensive background checks for licensing and credentials are meant to protect citizens, like schoolchildren.

It says: “These applicants are often candidates for positions that place them in a position of trust for some of California’s most vulnerable citizenry, elderly, and dependent adults and children. As such, it is vital for the hiring or licensing authority to be aware of specified active arrests or convictions. Entrusting applicants with the responsibility of the position prior to a criminal background check potentially jeopardizes the safety and integrity of the workplace and may leave some individuals exposed to unnecessary harm. Employment and licensing authorities may also face legal liability if applicants with specified active arrests or convictions are employed or licensed when statute prohibits such action based on the successful completion of a criminal background check.”

Smith filed a claim for her loss, but both agencies are immune from paying almost all civil damages.

“I guess I’m at fault because my name is common,” she said. “There’s no protection for people with common names… If I had a million dollars I’d move back to Minnesota right now. I don’t love this state.”

The DOJ conducts about two million background checks every year. It did not say how often mistakes happen, but that it has devised a special process to challenge errors.

Defense attorneys tell us people with common names often are targeted. If it’s happened to you, let us know.

Take a look at more stories and videos by 7 On Your Side.

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