Background Checks–Tip of the Week

Last week, I was involved in an audio conference on background checks.  In addition to looking at the normal background check topics, we considered a few court cases growing out of the failure to do background checks.

Ordinarily, these cases are based on the legal theory of “negligent hiring.”  A person is hired.  No background check is done.  The person, now employee, harms a third party–a customer, a client, some other member of the public–while working for you.  You didn’t hire the person to harm your customers, of course, but he had been previously convicted of one or more violent crimes.  A background check would’ve told you this, and you wouldn’t have hired the person.  You’re guilty of negligent hiring, it’s alleged. 

What kinds of cases are we talking about?

–A driver rams a family vehicle with his truck, killing the family.  The driver was under the influence of alcohol when the accident happened.  A backgroud check would’ve have shown the driver had several DUI’s.

–An individual was sexually assaulted by an elevator operator in an office building.  A background check would’ve revealed that the elevator operator had a lengthy criminal record, including convictions for sexual abuse in the first degree, and that he was a registered sex offender.

–A home security company’s sales employee kidnapped a homeowner when he was in the home allegedly trying to make a sale.  A background check would’ve shown that the sales employee was a convicted violent felon.

–A landlord’s maintenance employee strangled to death a renter while he was in the renter’s apartment to do some repair work.  A background check would’ve shown that the maintenance employee had been convicted of rape, armed robbery and other crimes.

The last case resulted in a jury verdict of over $15 million, which brings me to the tip.  These kinds of cases will get a jury worked up.  You placed an employee out in the public to do work for you, but you weren’t willing to spend a little money to see if the employee had a criminal record before you hired him?  You deserve to be punished, and we’re here to punish you.

If you do background checks, make sure they cover the right jobs and obtain the kind of information you need to know.  If you don’t do background checks, seriously consider starting to do them–at least for those jobs that require your employees to interact with the public.  Some states require background checks for certain jobs: teachers, medical professionals, home health workers, child care workers.  Even if you’re not required by law to do background checks, the safe approach is to do them anyway.  If you don’t and you end up in court before a jury, you’ll be facing a bunch of outraged people.