‘Reckless hiring’ claim hits company hard
August 14, 2008 by Sam NarisiPosted in: Background checks, In This Week's E-Newsletter, Latest News & Views, Law
A pending lawsuit shows the dangers of background check mistakes.
A patient at an assisted living facility sued the company after being sexually assaulted by a newly hired employee.
It turned out that the employee had several pending criminal charges against him involving other incidents of sexual abuse. What’s more, the company conducted a background check and was aware of the charges but hired him anyway.
The plaintiff’s lawyers say that hiring the man and then failing to supervise him closely showed a “reckless disregard” for patients’ safety. The total price they’re asking the company to pay: $3.5 million.
The case is still pending, but things don’t look good for the employer.
August 18th, 2008 at 9:41 am
The lead sentence in this article is misleading as written. In this instance, it appears that the background check did exactly what it was supposed to do — it identified pending criminal charges for this potential employee. The company made the mistake of ignoring that information. Background checks may not be perfect, but if a company fails to follow-up on the information provided, they deserve what they get.
August 19th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
I fully agree with Lisa. Organizations that use background screening have a written policy in place that governs the screening decisions. While all factors must be taken into account, these factors must be documented as to the reasons for hiring or not hiring. And let’s not forget that many companies now use background information for promotions as well. Just as important, a document trail must be created with each decision. This is paramount for the negative decisions. Incompetent employees abound so it is a never-ending battle to ensure policy compliance.