Category: Employment Law

EEOC Wants to Ban Criminal Conviction Checks

It’s official, according to the latest EEOC presenter at Mid-Year meeting of the National Association of Professional Background Screeners in Orlando, Florida the EEOC and government decision-makers will not hesitate to look you straight in the eye and tell you that criminal conviction checks should be eliminated from the determination of employment candidacy in the [...]

Wednesday March 14th, 2012 in CA Employment Law, Employment Law, Employment Screening, Human Resources | 1 Comment »

Oregon Broker’s $5M Verdict for Negligent Hiring of Truck Driver

Yesterday an Oregon jury returned a large verdict against a trucking brokerage company for its negligent hiring of a drug addict. The jury awarded over $5 million, including punitive damages, to the family of a man killed in 2008 because the broker failed to do any due diligence when it hired Washington Transportation to hire [...]

Monday March 12th, 2012 in CA Employment Law, Employment Law, Employment Screening, Human Resources, Negligent Hiring | No Comments »

School Districts are liable for Negligent Hiring of Employees who Molest Students

The California Supreme Court issued a decision yesterday in C.A. v. William S. Hart Union High School Dist. (May 8, 2012, S188982) __Cal.4th__, ruling that school districts may be held liable if a supervisory or administrative employee is found to have negligently exposed a student to a foreseeable danger of molestation by a school employee. [...]

Monday March 12th, 2012 in CA Employment Law, Employment Law, Employment Screening, Human Resources, Negligent Hiring | 1 Comment »

Orgeon Jury Awards $5.2M Verdict in Landmark Negligent Hiring Case

Highway safety took a huge step this week when a jury in federal court in Medford, Oregon agreed with us in a negligent hiring case and rendered a $5.2 million verdict. I am proud to have represented the family of Kelly Linhart, who was killed on Sept. 25, 2008, when Daniel Clarey, a truck driver [...]

Wednesday March 7th, 2012 in Employment Law, Employment Screening, Negligent Hiring | No Comments »

Lawson comments on the EEOC’s declared war on background checks

In the latest barrage of attacks against the Human Resources Management side of American business, the EEOC just levied a $3+ million fine against PepsiCo targeting discrimination in the background check process.  Here is yet another example of the EEOC singling out major companies to put forth its agenda of constructively terminating American business’s inalienable [...]

Friday March 2nd, 2012 in CA Employment Law, Employment Law, Employment Screening, Human Resources | 1 Comment »

Minnesota Commerce Department Fines NCO Group $250,000 for Hiring Felons

The Minnesota Department of Commerce continued its efforts this week to keep convicted felons out of the pocketbooks of Minnesota consumers. Commissioner Mike Rothman took action against 49 debt collection agencies nationwide that are owned and operated by NCO Financial Systems, Inc. According to the Department’s investigation, the company allegedly failed to properly screen employees [...]

Monday February 20th, 2012 in Employment Law, Employment Screening, Human Resources | No Comments »

22-Year old Male Just Released from Prison Kills 2 People on the Job

As if We Need Another Reason for Employment Background Checks… The recent killing of a North Carolina store manager and her unborn child shines a bright light on the risks employers take when they fail to conduct a proper employment background check. The alleged story goes like this: Around two months after being released from [...]

Monday February 13th, 2012 in CA Employment Law, Employment Law, Employment Screening, Human Resources, Negligent Hiring | No Comments »

Legal Use of Misdemeanor Records in California Hiring

I’ve been getting a few inquiries about a statement that was made during the PIHA Legal Update wherein it might be misinterpreted that it is illegal to use misdemeanor records in California in the hiring process.   In fact, the law is clear: 432.7.  (a) No employer, whether a public agency or private individual or [...]

Thursday February 9th, 2012 in CA Employment Law, Employment Law, Employment Screening, Human Resources | No Comments »

Virgin Atlantic forces hundreds of new staff each year to pay for their own criminal record checks

Well, here is the faux pas of the day. If you want to read the news report, here is the link: http://easyforexguides.com/tag/pre-employment-screening/ If you ask me, Virgin should be welcoming people into their waiting arms and using the opportunity to expand their recruiting by using the interview process rather than weeding out undesirables by making [...]

Tuesday February 7th, 2012 in Employment Law, Employment Screening, Human Resources | No Comments »

Criminal Records Reported for 7 years?

Q: Background checks will only reflect history back 7-years, correct? Is that regardless of the “crime” even if there are felonies on the record, or are there exceptions? A: Well, there are a number of screening companies that ignore California Law , following only the Federal law which has lifted the time requirement.  California is [...]

Thursday February 2nd, 2012 in CA Employment Law, Employment Law, Human Resources | 1 Comment »