I think this question has been relatively well handled by those above me, but I wanted to throw in some things to think about in addition
Firstly, I disagree that Toys R Us “lacks the ability” to discover previous histories. And I mean background and employment checks. Anyone with a laptop and a credit card can dig deeper than you realize into your past, and that certainly holds true for ToysRus. The question is : Do they care enough? Honestly, probably not.
It’s also true that employers love going to your Facebook account, and usually they only need your name and zip code. If it’s unsavory, they’ll just toss your app.
As for the existence of employee blacklists, they do exist and they are used heavily. Landing on one of those lists should be avoided at all costs, and I’m not talking about a single list one company – I’m talking about a shared regional list that is just as easily referenced and dispersed as anything you could share on LinkedIn.
This is a serious matter, especially as jobless rates climb and finding a job is so hard. Employers know they can pay less for better quality, and they tap every resource to do so.
You can’t sue an employer for refusing to hire you unless you have pretty solid proof that they violated the law (not to mention you’re paying for the representation).
So all that being said, the best solution, as said a couple times here so far, is to get someone else to find out what your previous employers are saying about you. This won’t really tell you if you’re on a blacklist or not, but there’s other ways you can find that out.
All things considered, based on your description, you’re probably not a blacklist. Retail jobs are revolving doors, everyone knows that. But it doesn’t mean you should ignore the fact that blacklists do exist