I know sometimes it seems like background checks are a pain. But a recent story from Evansville, Indiana reminds us that all it takes is one person to severely damage the reputation of your firm.
A registered sex offender, Benjamin Dewayne Judson, was arrested on multiple charges, such as inappropriate communication with children, battery and failing to register.
What was he doing?
The staffing company hired him to be the mascot for Bunny Bread. You read that right. Of all the jobs that could have been given to Judson, it was a job where he would be dressed up as a bunny, entertaining children.
At an event he was working, he allegedly touched a female co-worker inappropriately. The cops were called. They found out who Judson was and threw him in jail.
For one, he’s not allowed to work around children because he’s a registered sex offender. Surely he knew that and it explains why he didn’t register his new job –which he is required to do no matter what job he takes.
The police department stated that the staffing agency had not done a full background check. Surely if they had (assuming no fake IDs were used), all of this would have been avoided.
Seriously, don’t let this happen to you. Run a background check every time — even if your customer doesn’t require it. It may cost a little more, but that one background check you skip could be the one that comes back to haunt you.
{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }
I know I know – equal recruiting, equal opportunity but really? No. The fact is that though you strive to be an equal opportunity employer some people should not be given the same opportunities. Take this guy for instance, he was given a temporary assignment that he could have owned and they might have been so happy with him that they requested to keep him indefinitely as their Bunny mascot. Instead, this guy probably lied on his application and then showed his true colors when he went to work. I say don’t ban the box! Run background checks! Look into things online to see what additional information can be found. As a staffing professional, you and your company can’t afford not to! Of course just like any other issue there is always the other side that points and blames but these things are in place for a reason. The way that we hire is tried and true and to strip the process back would be detrimental to productive business and the economy. Here is a comic I made to simply share my thoughts on the subject. I’m interested to see what others think.
http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/9814/backgroundchecks.jpg
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sorry, misfired there a moment ago…
Anyway, I was just going to point out that in some states it may not be legal to discriminate on the basis of past convictions, or to find out about them through background checks. The people’s republik of kalifornia, for example, makes it tricky sometimes…
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Thanks Tim! How would this be handled in California? Are they placing sex offenders in jobs working with children and then finding out about it later? Or worse, never finding out?
You know the ‘Consumers Summary of Rights’ candidates get when an employer is doing a background check? It’s twice as long in California.
The information background check companies is allowed to give employers is reduced, (max 7 years) and to ask about older convictions would get an employer slapped with a fine, if not lawsuit. As applications cannot specifically ask, ‘Sex Conviction?’ some registered offenders need not check anything at all. It is entirely up to them to self-report and request positions that meet their restrictions.
Of course if they don’t, the employer, not the employee is held to account.
Sound about right Tim?
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Yes, that sounds right.
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i had some old wood in my backyard…called a guy in the Penny Journal to haul it away…this was in Sacramento around 1995…the guy came and all seemed normal…he and i started carrying the planks out to his pickup and he started talking about murders, about the ones he’d seen, about ones by a lady named Puente who killed a bunch of old people (he was friends with her, he said)…and i started thinking about the plank he was carrying and how it would feel if he hit me over the head with it….no one else was around.
ok…long story to ask why as a society we’re so focused on employment related background checks when we or at least i enter into casual encounters like that one on a regular basis?
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I think the distinction is that in your story you placed yourself into such a position, you were not placed there by a staffing professional, perhaps you thought back to that experience when you were next seeking some assistance around the home.
It’s certainly not a leap to think that staffing clients would change their vendor of choice over an experience such as described in the article.
I think understanding the sensitivity of your clients is also a big component here.
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