‘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.