background check and charged 15 years old

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Question

Country: United States of America
State: New York

I recently had a pre-employment background check done and was surprised that an incident that I had no idea was in my record from fifteen years ago showed up! The incident was as follows, Fifteen years ago while traveling alone at night in the NYC subway, I was being hassled by a crazy man who proceeded to be verbally abusive and to follow me out of the train, He grabbed me and I proceeded to kick him in the groin...I then ran into a bar for help and the man harassing me proceeded to call the police and say that I was harassing HIM! He demanded on pressing charges even though the police told him to just go home. We appeared in court and I was fined $25 as was he for being a nuisance. I was told that this was minor and would drop off my record in a year. Now, 15 years later I may possibly be denied employment at a job that I have been trying to get for over a year. Is this legal? I was not arrested and don't know why this is still on my record. Where do I go to get it off my record and what if I am denied employment? Please respond ASAP an I am in limbo regarding a potential job.

Answer

Contact the police dept and DA to see what has happened--that may be an error...